Hardware — not just software — should be at the forefront of the AI’s future, Jerry Hsu shared.
After the successful release of its GPT-powered AI mouse, Jethro V1, in late 2024, Overland Park-based Virtusx — which is revolutionizing workplaces through integrating hardware and software to make AI-driving products more accessible and user-friendly — has launched a Kickstarter campaign for the world’s first AI mechanical keyboard, Phronesis.
Click here to check out the Phronesis crowdfunding campaign.
The AI button on the Phronesis AI mechanical keyboard by Virtusx; courtesy photo
“Obviously, the software aspect is a really, really heavy piece of the AI industry right now,” said Hsu, CEO of Virtusz. “But I know that OpenAI recently acquired the previous Apple designer to come up with AI hardware that will power your software, too. And that’s a vision that our company wants to go toward. We built a device — hardware — that people will use every single day.”
In just two days, Virtusx hit its $10,000 goal on Kickstarter for Phronesis, which has a built-in AI chip and microphone that is designed to type, translate, and summarize using the user’s voice.
With weeks to go until the campaign ends in early November, the startup has already raised just more than $48,000 with about 285 backers. Virtusx plans to go into full production on the keyboard in late November and to ship out to backers in late December or early January, Hsu said. It will eventually be available on Amazon (just as the Jethro V1 mouse is now).
“We are really excited to launch this product,” Hsu said, noting the Virtusx team also fine-tuned its software for the new product.
“AI is booming right now,” he added. “A lot of softwares have their strength on doing a specific task. But there hasn’t been a software that combines everything together and makes the (user interface) very intuitive for the user.”
Features beneath the keys
What makes Phronesis different: a built-in AI chip and a dedicated AI switch that lets the user shift between normal typing and AI mode with a single press, according to Virtusx. Once in AI mode, users can instantly launch voice typing, translation, meeting summaries, image generation, and more, all directly from the keyboard.
“For example, let’s say you are working on a project,” Hsu explained, “and all of a sudden you have a question that you want to ask. All you have to do is press a key and then just say the question. Once you’re done speaking, release the key, and it will type the prompt into our built-in software and it will just instantly give you an idea.”
The keyboard also had built-in dedicated hotkeys to launch tools, he continued.
“If you want to create a PowerPoint, you can click the button and it will just jump into that specific window for you,” Hsu explained. “If you want to reply to emails, you hit a button and then it will just pop up a window for you instantly. You don’t have to go to different pages.”
The Virtusx V-AI software — which will soon be available offline — also allows more privacy to protect the user, he noted.
“We just think that for our users who use AI in regular life, they need a more secure place to use it,” Hsu said. “That’s why, when we built this hardware and software, most of your data is going to be stored on your hardware or device, instead of synching to the cloud, if you don’t permit it. AI is growing really fast, but it also raises a lot of security concerns.”
The Phronesis AI mechanical keyboard by Virtusx; courtesy photo
Two-way feedback
Hsu’s team at Virtusx got the idea for the AI keyboard from the response to the AI mouse and its successful Kickstarter campaign.
Jerry Hsu, Virtusx; photo by Nikki Overfelt Chifalu, Startland News
“We got a lot of feedback saying that they wanted it in a keyboard format because not everyone is so into using a mouse,” the founder said.
That’s the benefit of using a crowdfunding platform, Hsu noted. It provides connection to a community that cares about the product before it’s launched, leading them to release the keyboard on Kickstarter, as well.
“We can still modify it,” he added, “so that when people receive the product, they will be satisfied.”
The next phase, Hsu shared, involves focusing on improving the software in the Virtusx ecosystem by expanding to a mobile version, allowing the user to do things like record meetings, ask chatbot questions, and translate languages in real time.
“You can open the software on mobile and then all of your data — or everything that you’ve done but you couldn’t finish — you can take it with you on your phone and then start working on it there,” he explained.
Click here to see how a community of Virtusx users is using its products.
