Luke Lancaster/CNET

There were three cool things about the Flaretech Prism Switch I found on the show floor at Computex 2017.

The first was that the switch was totally removable. It's not soldered to anything. Using an infra-red optical sensor, you could not only remove the key cap, you could take out the entire switch.

The second thing also has to do with that optical sensor: Those Flaretech switches are analogue. That means they can register the difference between a soft keystroke and a hard one. If you're playing racing games, you can slowly accelerate with a soft touch. If you're sending Italian plumbers from ledge to ledge, you can tap for a small hop or hold down longer for a mighty, overalled leap. Wahoo.

Okay, here's the final cool thing. I was told when I first saw the switches that they were waterproof. That's great. No more coffee-induced keyboard death. However, these keys are also in Gigabyte's new Aorus K9 Optical keyboard. Which I found in the following display:

Luke Lancaster/CNET

Soon we'll be able to live out those PC gaming in the bathtub dreams. Expect to see the new switches appear in keyboards and bathtubs in 2017.

For more CNET coverage of Computex 2017, check out our landing page here.