Ergonomic, split and other weird keyboards
Posts must be of/about keyboards that have a clear delineation between the left and right halves of the keyboard, column stagger, or both. This includes one-handed (one half doesn't exist, what clearer delineation is that!?)
i.e. no regular non-split¹ row-stagger and no non-split¹ ortholinear²
¹ split meaning a separation of the halves, whether fixed in place or entirely separate, both are fine.
² ortholinear meaning keys layed out in a grid
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I think having a split keyboard so my mouse can be in the middle would really help my comfort at the desk. Is there a style that doubles up the middle keys? My typing style means sometimes I use my right hand to hit T, left to hit Y, etc.
Is this a style already, or would I need to build my own?
I am completely new to this domain and would appreciate advice from knowledgeable enthusiasts.
Not that I am aware of. However, one thing I learned is that moving to a split keyboard fixes bad typing behavior like tapping T or Y with the wrong hand very quickly.
That's my experience, too. When I switched to split, I noticed a few quirks in my typing habits. They cleared up quickly with just a little bit of thoughtful practice.
I think the "bad" typing behavior for those stretches has a bit to do with PC gaming. In the old days of CS and other games before voip, T was all chat and Y was team chat. So my left hand was used to migrating to that specific key very quickly to open a prompt as my mouse hand transitioned over to the keyboard. As a gamer on a split keyboard, it's usually fine, but sometimes I wish my left half had an extra column of keys.
Indeed, OP should just switch and quickly learn more ergonomic typing.
This is like asking the internet if they have a diet that can accomodate a lot of sugary drinks.
Just, no.
I love the extra B on my Alice but when using Corne I keep wanting to press B with my right hand, which I shouldn’t 😂
Aw, why call it bad behavior? It's faster to type T with the ~~left~~ right hand when its ready to go and the ~~right~~ left hand is all the way down where I just hit C. I save a whole microsecond :D
Maybe it's not official typing rules, but it isn't bad. Different :)
It is a habit i could unlearn though.
Edit: left vs right omg
Some people use a different hand for T depending on whether they also need to hold shift or control. It's not wrong to want redundant keys. I like the idea of having some overlap in on the halves. (not that I plan to implement it)
The time saved is irrelevant when compared to the extra strain you put in your body. It seems small but the less you move out of an ergonomic position the better. Stretching your fingers sideways, moving your wrist, etc all add up when you do them hundreds of times a day.
Such a simple design change but honestly it's a genius move.
I think going custom is your best option. Keyboard enthusiasts often adhere to their "perfect" touch typing methods, and thus there is often no demand for split boards with these duplicate keys, which is a shame.
Ya. I wonder if a 'loophole' would be adding a row of blank/programmable keys down that middle row. That would make this easy to do, without the purists (80% of the demographic) feeling that it's tainted by being not technically correct.
Oh, that's an amazing idea.
I mean an extra row on both sides, but I assume you figured out what I meant. That's actually a really good place for macro and modifier keys that I never thought of before since they're always in easy reach without lifting your hands. Somebody with more free time than me: Get on this!
No feedback about the doubled middle keys, but mouse in the center of your desk? Do you have a third, middle arm? I don't see that being ergonomic at all.
I use my mouse in the middle and it's much more comfortable. My keyboard halves are quite far apart-- more than most split keyboard users-- and as the other poster suggested, I do a significant amount of my work with keyboard only.
It feels much shorter and my arm feels much more supported when I move my right hand inward to the mouse instead of flaring my elbow outward. In general, elbow tucked is a more ergonomic and stable position, even in e.g. a bench press, and so it's less fatiguing. Less fatigue means more time without hunching.
That's my experience, anyway. Different bodies and different setups might end up optimizing differently.
Mouse in the middle is more ergonomic if you spend more time typing than moving your mouse, e.g. heavy CLI users or people who type documents all day.
so what you're saying is... moving your arm outwards to use the mouse is more ergonomic than moving it inwards? 🤔
Yes? Inward shoulder rotation is a big factor in rounded shoulder/"computer guy" hunch.
I’m a “touchpad in the middle” guy myself. Love it.
Wait... Left...Right....
...wtf do you use to control your mouse that makes the middle comfortable? lmao
Uses his dick like a joystick
two Eternal Keypads – build one as right, one as left – install VIA firmware and remap
(in between the two halves, people more often choose a trackpad or trackball, usually not enough room for full mouse movement)
EDIT: for split keyboards, you’re basically looking for each half having 7 columns (6 and 5 columns are far more common)
You’ll have to get it custom made. You can learn to do it yourself, design and get it fabricated. Or see if you can pay someone to for it.
I find it funny that most of the responses are variations of you needing to conform to existing designs. We make tools to conform to us, not the other way around.
You can do that on a zsa moondlander and assign those key to be whatever you want.
Edit: except for the B/N. But someone that has bad typing technique and crossover and switching to columnar, my muscle memory only does thaty with T/Y and G/H. Not a problem for the bottom row.
I use a ZSA Moonlander which I programmed to have 2 Ys and 2 Vs so the left and right work like how you're looking for.
It sped up my adoption of using a columnar keyboard. I'm sure some will say I gotta fix my typing, but I definitely have sped up my typing with a split keyboard, even with this quirk.
I've had some fun about thinking how much overlap you need. And while playing with the thought to maximize it, I came to the conclusion that you can just have two keyboards, for each hand one.
I had a similar set of typing habits when I started and found that the bfo9000 suited my needs, may be worth a try for you.
It is ortholinear, rather that the row staggered layout you requested, but does allow the "overreaching" typing style.
https://keeb.io/products/bfo-9000-keyboard-customizable-full-size-split-ortholinear
Not really something that I'm aware of; you would probably need to build one custom yourself if you wanted that. But I don't think that would be worth the effort. If you get a split keyboard, it's pretty easy to train yourself to use it the "correct" way, hitting T with left and Y with right.
EDIT: Or if you go with a pre-built PCB, you could build a keyboard with a non-standard ortholinear layout like this one, but you'd have to re-learn how to type on that anyway....so just going with a standard split layout is the easiest option.
If you didn't want to make one custom, you could get a programmable keyboard like a ZSA Moonlander and then use a layer to have the three extra keys on the inside be the extra keys you want.
As a fellow left-handed split keyboard enthusiast, do what you want. The Ergodash is probably about as close as you're going to get to what you're looking for.
Yeah the Ortho layout is a bit different and you won't get your number overlaps, but it could allow you to do what you are looking for and then change it in the future if you decide you'd rather have other keys there instead of letters.
Also as a person who's job entails typing all damn day, the change in layout has removed a significant amount of hand fatigue I used to get from regular staggered boards.
Just buying a split (doesnt even have to be ergo) will fix your problems. I have a charybdis from bastardkb and all my typing flaws were instantly revealed. It honestly took me about a month to get used to it, considering I type on a lot of keyboards and mine is the only split ergo in the office.