Are you suggesting something like what I've attached?
I developed this with a former team member for a project earlier, but haven't around to actually programming for it. Below is a photo of the completed system. Admittedly the wiring is a bit messy - we got around to cleaning that up and it looks a lot more functional now, but I don't have any photos of that at the moment. It's sitting in a box, unfortunately.
EDIT: I read through your post again and realize that this isn't quite what you're suggesting. Something like what GeeTwo is suggesting below me seems a lot closer to what you're suggesting.