Optical keyboard switches allow full analogue response, future applications?

[RossMarBow]

Optical keyboard switches allow full analogue response.
i.e. on this razer huntsman optical 60% I purchased
which by the way is an excellent deal on amazon, I'm not supporting amazon or razer, but I was surprised on the value for $50 USD

 

my mouse also uses optical switches

 

The benefits of optical switches is usually touted as a reduction in response times due to not requiring the software 'debounce' filtering that mechanical contact switches require
Impossible to confirm yet but they should also last longer? Though I seriously doubt anyone has ever worn out a mechanical switch before so that is probably entirely moot

also thank the lord none has a patent on optical switches it seems
every brand seems to have the ability to design an optical switch
 

I believe theirs also a bunch of open source drivers controllers etc. (with other brands)

I'm not 100% sure of the tech behind it but I believe they will replace mechanical switches entirely except for maybe really small switches?
While I know VKB/Virpil don't seem to be using them at the moment?
The fact that you could make a lot of switches and buttons on throttles and joysticks analogue is good

back to this razer keyboard

by 'default' 

it lets you turn your wasd into a joystick, while the Q and E keys function as triggers would on a xbox or dualshock

warning some games will think you have a controller plugged in and block off keyboard and mouse input (I don't think this will be a problem at all in IL-2 WT DCS though)
 

in theory in the future the majority of gamers will have access to something similar to this 
I'm not saying this is going to replace joysticks and rudders
but you might be getting shot down a lot by someone using purely keyboard and mouse, sooner rather than later
this will greatly increase the number of players who get a good taste of flight sims and become hooked 

 

using the software you can also rebind other keys to have an analogue output 
which might actually be useful today and now even if you have a stick and throttle, this functionality could be useful to someone 

 

I have not actually tried this out in anything yet 

but I can imagine this might lower the barrier of entry into flight sims

someone has probably tried this out in WT and might be able to compare it to mouse 

 

The software has a prebuilt setup for emulating a normal stick and triggers
but as seen below you can make any and every switch analogue 

 

now before you think this is crazy talk the switch only has 3.6mm of throw how accurate can you be?
well I can't actually tell you, but from what I have read online its good enough for controlling movement in fps
and razer has said its good enough to drive a car with so \0/

 

Practical application to IL-2 
rudder input
flaps? can you bind flaps to an access?
wheel brakes 
anything else that you would want to bind to an 'axis' and don't mind having it return to the 0 or 100% position every time