Alienware builds the world's largest mechanical keyboard and mouse

Alienware has taken two of its peripherals, the Alienware AW420K mechanical keyboard and AW720M gaming mouse, and faithfully re-created them both at 14 times their original size. And with that, you've got the world's largest mechanical keyboard that's over 5 meters long (or 16 feet) with a spacebar the size of a person.

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Team Liquid playing DOTA on a five-meter-long mechanical keyboard, image credit: Team Liquid/YouTube.

The space apparently took three days to 3D print, and each mechanical switch had to be custom-made because there's no reason for an existing keyboard switch to require over 4 inches of travel distance. Alienware partnered with Team Liquid on the project and even got them to play a round of DOTA using the oversized equipment - naturally, it took the whole team to control a single character.

The mouse, too, is fully functional, with giant mechanical switches and a scroll wheel - though it requires a lot of effort to move around.

The Alienware AW420K mechanical keyboard that the oversized monster we see here was based on uses tried and true Cherry MX switches, but in creating a 14:1 replica, the team has to use a mix of PVC piping, rubber bands, and even the metal bits from the end of a tape measure to replicate the mechanical switch feel and click accurately. They did this for every single one of 84 keys - which is impressive.

Team Liquid's DOTA team is one of the best in the world, but even so, using the oversized keyboard and mouse took training and coordination. Watching them grapple with simple tasks like typing and using Paint before jumping into DOTA is a lot of fun.

Check it out.