this post was submitted on 18 Aug 2023
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ErgoMechKeyboards

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Ergonomic, split and other weird keyboards

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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!?)

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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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Svalboard, 41wpm on day 1? Wowza! [vendor]-ish (lemmy.world)
submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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Another happy Svalboard user is crushing it on day 1! I'm really amazed at how quickly most folks are adapting, users of split ergo boards seem to be getting the hang in a week or so, and transitioning to full-time use after 2-3 weeks!

Took me way longer twenty years ago on Datahand, but I had atrocious touch-typing form ;P

Context: Svalboard is my evolution of Datahand and lalboard into a production device. I build them myself here in Pacifica, CA.

It surrounds the fingers with magnetically actuated keys in 5 directions, with total anatomical customizability through novel fitment mechanisms that can suit any hand size and finger anatomy.

20g force is standard, and the profile is insanely tactile/clicky, with instant actuation and very fast breakaway of forces (1/x^2).

It runs QMK-Vial, and is totally modular. Replacement parts can be printed on a Prusa MK3S or equivalent.

Lots more detail at https://www.svalboard.com

Come join the Discord, it's pretty lively and I post lots of the day-to-day design and fabrication experiments as I evolve things! :D

https://discord.gg/DnGcHM4Rg8

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Used to live in Pacifica myself! Hell ya Rosalind bakery and the surfing!

Love the board as well, good work

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Pass by Rosalind every day on my way to fly at Mussel Rock!

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

20g force is standard, and the profile is insanely tactile/clicky, with instant actuation and very fast breakaway of forces (1/x^2).

So, closer to mouse switches than keyboard switches?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Mouse switches have substantially more movement and force buildup before the click, these are instant. I think a mouse switch with this profile would be awesome though... Magnets are amazing.

Using this and Azeron (very mousy microswitches) side by side, it's like night and day. Totally different sensation.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Mousier than mouse? Wow.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

Sooooo clicky! Where are you located? I can direct you to a user near you if there is someone, or I can just drop you a prototype cluster in the mail so you can feel it for yourself :D

[–] Efwis 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

At first glance they look like a funky mouse for each hand. That’s cool. Too bad I don’t have the technique to be able to use something like that.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (2 children)

You'd be surprised -- resting the palms fully makes the finger much more capable of controlled small motions 🙃

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

Did you know the original Datahand prototypes included the ability to slide for mousing? Just learned that recently from the original inventor! It's a little weird, I think the modern alternatives are probably better, but he has a working version of it somewhere.

[–] Efwis 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I don’t have that fine of motor control to do that. Hell have the time with my mouse I click the wrong thing because I accidentally jerk the mouse during clicking

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

Fair enough! Svalboard isn't really suited for folks with generalized fine-motor problems in the fingers. But I can heartily recommend using Tobii gaze trackers to simplify and speed up your mousing -- really amazing tech and not that expensive. Check out Talon too, for voice+gaze combinations that will blow your mind.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Cool project, seems like something that I would like to try out, but that price point just isn’t realistic for something so niche. It may well be fantastic, but a nearly $800 gamble is too risky when the market is flooded with keyboard alternatives I can build for an eighth of the cost.

Why not sell the hardware kit for something more reasonable and then let us print our own casing?