There is a chip that can control keyboards with I2C interface, the ADP5587, handles all the delicacies of button pressing:

https://www.analog.com/en/products/adp5587.html

Nice. there's also a project [0] that uses the RP2040 to talk I2C and present it as USB HID, created in service of the beepberry [1]. Now that I think of it tho this could be made into a very miniature home theater PC remote, a la the Logitech DiNovo

[0] https://github.com/TheMediocritist/beepy_rp2040

[1] https://blog.beeper.com/2023/05/16/beeper-x-sqmfi-beepberry/

[2] https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/546865-REG/Logitech_9...