Keyboard Distance

Turn your typing into measurable distance.

Keyboard Distance is a Chrome extension that tracks character-producing keyboard events and converts the total into a simple distance metric.

100 typed characters = 1 meter

The extension is designed around a privacy-first approach: it counts typing activity without collecting or storing the actual text being typed.

---

Features

• Track typed character events across webpages
• Convert typing activity into distance
• Persistent counter using Chrome Storage
• Works across multiple browser tabs
• Real-time statistics in the extension popup
• Reset the counter at any time
• Minimal black-and-white interface
• Manifest V3 architecture
• No backend or external database required
• Does not store the actual characters typed

---

How It Works

The extension follows this flow:

User types on a webpage
          │
          ▼
     content.js
          │
          │  KEY_TYPED
          ▼
    background.js
          │
          ▼
 chrome.storage.local
          │
          ▼
       popup.js
          │
          ▼
    Extension Popup

The extension does not send the actual character to the background worker.

For example, if the user types:

hello

the extension sends an event equivalent to:

{
  type: "KEY_TYPED"
}

It does not send:

{
  type: "KEY_TYPED",
  key: "h"
}

---

Distance Calculation

The calculation is intentionally simple:

100 characters = 1 meter

Therefore:

50 characters  = 0.50 m
100 characters = 1.00 m
500 characters = 5.00 m
1000 characters = 10.00 m

The popup displays both the total character count and calculated distance.

---

Project Structure

extension/
│
├── manifest.json
│
├── content.js
│
├── background.js
│
├── popup.html
├── popup.css
├── popup.js
│
├── privacy-policy.html
│
└── icons/
    ├── icon16.png
    ├── icon32.png
    ├── icon48.png
    └── icon128.png

manifest.json

Defines the Chrome extension configuration and Manifest V3 settings.

content.js

Runs on webpages and detects character-producing keyboard events.

It sends only a notification that a character was typed.

background.js

Acts as the central counter.

It receives events from content scripts and maintains the global typing count.

popup.html

Defines the extension popup interface.

popup.js

Reads the counter and calculates/display the distance.

popup.css

Contains the styling for the black-and-white interface.

privacy-policy.html

Contains the extension's privacy policy.

---

Installation

1. Clone the repository

git clone https://github.com/YOUR_USERNAME/YOUR_REPOSITORY.git

2. Open Chrome Extensions

Open:

chrome://extensions

3. Enable Developer Mode

Turn on:

Developer mode

4. Load the extension

Click:

Load unpacked

Select the directory containing:

manifest.json

For this project, that is the extension directory.

5. Test

Open a normal webpage and type some text.

Then click the Keyboard Distance extension icon to view your statistics.

---

Privacy

Keyboard Distance is designed to avoid collecting the actual text users type.

The extension:

• Counts character-producing keyboard events
• Stores the aggregate count locally using chrome.storage.local
• Does not intentionally store the characters themselves
• Does not send typed text to an external server
• Does not require a backend
• Does not use an external database

The stored counter can be reset from the extension popup.

For the complete policy, see:

privacy-policy.html

---

Permissions

The extension currently requests:

"permissions": [
  "storage"
]

The storage permission is used to persist the typing counter.

The extension does not request permissions such as:

tabs
history
cookies
webNavigation

---

Browser Compatibility

The extension is built using Chrome Manifest V3.

It is intended for Chromium-based browsers that support the required Manifest V3 APIs.

---

Limitations

The extension runs on webpages where Chrome allows content scripts to execute.

It cannot monitor:

• Chrome internal pages such as chrome://...
• Native desktop applications
• Applications outside the browser
• Pages where extension content scripts are blocked

For example, the extension can work with a web application opened in Chrome, but it cannot monitor a separate native desktop application.

---

Development

After modifying the extension:

1. Open:

chrome://extensions

2. Find Keyboard Distance
3. Click Reload
4. Refresh the webpage being tested

When the extension is reloaded, existing webpages may need to be refreshed so that the updated content script is injected.

---

Roadmap

• Keyboard event tracking
• Character counting
• Distance calculation
• Persistent local storage
• Popup interface
• Reset functionality
• Multi-tab architecture
• Manifest V3
• Extension icons
• Privacy policy
• Chrome Web Store release
• Improved statistics
• Daily/weekly typing distance
• Typing history
• Progress milestones
• Optional user goals

---

Why This Project?

Keyboard Distance started as an experiment around browser extensions, keyboard events, Chrome storage, and Manifest V3 architecture.

The idea is simple:

Every keystroke contributes to a journey.

Instead of treating typing as an invisible activity, Keyboard Distance turns it into a small measurable metric.

Same keys.
Further you.

---

License

This project is currently intended as an educational and experimental project.

Add a specific license here if you decide to open-source the project under a particular license.