Keyless Keyboard

Nos. writes: "Keybowl has developed a keyless keyboard. Instead of using your fingers, as we're all used to, you use your hands and arms while reducing wrist motion. According to their research it suggests this is much better at reducing repetitive strain injuries as well as being easier to use for disabled persons. I'd be happy just knowing I couldn't drop any more crumbs between the keys!" As an official keyboard fanatic / inquisitor, I like to see unusual ideas like this. As it is, keyboards can mostly be pegged something from "horrible" to "terrible." Also, check out the comparison page at this site, which has a fairly non-judgmental rundown of many of the other ergonomic keyboards out there, from Kinesis to Bat.

So....

So if this thing becomes popular, and it creates a keystroke by combining one position from each hand, I'd have to assume you can only type one keystroke at a time... Now this almost instantly makes it worthless for Windows users, seeing as a certain three keys are required to be pressed at the same time quite often :)

Thanks again to...

Google [google.com]'s cache [google.com].

Damn slashdot effect.

Saw it on NSF a couple days ago...

For those that haven't seen it, this thing has a base shaped kinda like a Microsoft Natural Keyboard, but instead of keys, it's got a dome-looking articulation for each hand. The "domes" are moved in an x-y axis independently of each other. Moving the "domes" in combinations of positions correspond to the alpha-numeric key symbols as on a conventional keyboard.
It looks like a lot to have to re-learn to me.
I saw this on a site by the National Science Foundation. They were running a story on a new keyboard where ergonomics was the central design idea.

This device is patented.

This device is patented [ibm.com] already.
-russ

Heh.. my old Timex-Sinclar 1000

...had a keyless keyboad too.. and that was almost 20 years ago.

'Course it was living hell to type on too. Membrane "keys" and all that...

The lame jokes start here:

So if it's a keyless keyboard, this means...

Ye Gods, they've invented the BOARD!

Can you imagine the lame jokes that are going to show up on this article?

• Yeah, I think my local swimming pool can claim prior art, people have been kicking these around for a while
• Can I iron on it?
• If we put a checkered pattern on it, we could play chess and use the computer at the same time!
• Mister President, Dire news: The Russians have the board.
• And so on....

How it works

Since the site has been /. I'll copy/paste their description on how it works.

The Keybowl(TM) is made of two domes upon which the hands comfortably rest. One of the domes is called a "selector dome" and is used to activate the other dome, the "character dome."

It may be helpful to think of these dome movements in a compass arrangement: N, NE, E, SE, S, SW, W, NW. Each dome is capable of sliding into the same eight compass directions.

The Keybowl(TM) typist creates a keystroke by combining the positions of the two domes. He or she chooses a position on the "selector dome" and then types the letter with the "character dome" by sliding it in the direction of the letter or character he or she wishes to type.

It may sound a little complicated, but it's easy to use. With very little training, Keybowl(TM) typists achieve a speed very close to the one at which they used to type before their injuries.

Size?

Since the site is /.'ed (and google's cache isn't helpful with no pictures) I don't know what this looks like - but what I've been wanting is something small enough to walk around with and to use easily on wireless devices. We've got to be headed in that direction - conventional keyboards are just way to big for the next generation of computer interfaces - maybe a chorded keyboard of some sort coupled with a mouse pointing device all bundled into one small package makes most sense?

Re:another story - another slashdotted site

Silly me, for maximal usefulness I should have linked better pages:

homepage [google.com]
Research [google.com]
Products [google.com]
Ergonomics [google.com]

Their keyboard comparison comes from information taken from www.keyalt.com [keyalt.com].

question

keyless keyboard...
This that anything like a bandwithless server?

Can't press multiple keys at once?

From the descriptions it sounds as if one can't press multiple keys at once. How do I press [Ctrl] + [Alt] + [BackSpace]?
--

Yeah, but how does it feel?

I don't know about you, but I still prefer the feel of actual keys. It will take a LOT of adjustment to bound on a flat mat, which provides no feedback at all.

And that's the real problem, feedback. Suddenly, you can't type without looking at the screen, because you can't be certain if you hit the key. Now hunt-and-peck typers will double their time typing, since now they have to look at the screen after every peck.

The same thing happened when HP introduced the 49G graphic calculator, with rubberized keys that have no tactile feedback. While I think it's a great calculator, they really blew it by cheapening the keyboard. The old keyboards had substance--you knew when you hit the keys, even if you weren't paying attention. Now, when I use the 49G, I have to double-check everything I enter.

But not only the uncertainty of hitting keys, there's something deeper that comes along with getting no feedback. I can't pinpoint it, but things just feel wrong when you can't feel the keys going down.

I'm sure some people might like this. I can't actually see the keyboard, because of the Slashdot effect, but I would imagine it's flexible, and if not, it should be. If it isn't flexible, there's no point in using it. The flexibility might appeal to travelers--roll up a full-sized keyboard for your laptop, and jam it in a suitcase.

I really love my keyboard, a six-year-old job that came with a Compaq Presario CDS 526 (that's one of those all-in-one models). No Windows keys, it's not an "internet" keyboard (what the hell is that anyway?), nothing cheesed up. Just 101 keys, using capacitive (or inductive) key detection, and little rubber cups under the keys, to give them resistance that results in a little (barely detectable) "pop" when the key finally gives up all resistance and goes down. It just feels good. And you know it's a quality product (can we say that about Compaq anymore?), since it's spent 4+ years in service, and 2 years in a musty basement, and it still functions perfectly.

Sometimes I'd like a real tactile keyboard, the ones that click, but I don't know where to find those anymore. I actually have one in my basement, but many years ago I spilled a plastic bonding agent on the keys, and while the board still functions, the keys are all grimy.

Flat panel displays, DVD, gigabit ethernet--those are the real advances in computing. Contrary to the poster, I feel that keyboards are great--if they're older, when quality meant something. Making them keyless just estranges things even more.

Thank you.

I do not belong in the spam.redirect.de domain.

found some documentation

i found some information about the keybowl. this is actually a very interesting device. the following pdf has lots of information about how it works, and also includes some sketches.
http://www.c-60.org/keybowl.pdf [c-60.org]

The Evolution Of The Input Device

"For years [things] had been operated by means of pressing buttons... then as the technology became more sophisticated the controls were made [hand] sensitive - you merely had to [move] the panels your [hands]; now all you had to do is merely wave your hand in the general direction of the components and hope."

Modified from that grand ol' book,
The Hitch Hiker's Guide To The Galaxy by Douglas Adams

Dunno why no one has mentioned this yet...

This kind of setup would *rock* for Quake and FPS!

Can you imagine remapping it for gameplay?

Left hand controls direction movement; strafe left/right, move forward/backward

Right hand would be aiming; turn left/right, aim up/down

Or you could do the meta control, I guess;

If you could match this with a decent set of pedals; pedals would do forward/backward, left hand would be strafe left/right and 2 meta controls(weapon switching and jump/crouch?) while right hand would be freelook|weapon select/mode|jump/swim/crouch/duck/fly?

The nick is a joke! Really!

Re:How it works

Well to me this sounds like you put your hands on two domes and wiggle the domes around. Now all the need to do is put nipples on these domes and I will love typing on this device.

Oh, and it will be great when they come out with the force feedback version, like those new logitech mice.

And since they don't have keys, they can't call it a keyboard. I therefore suggest they call it a breast board, since that is what it most closely resembles.

If they have keyless keyboards...

Why not a mouseless mousepad, or a car that doesnt move? Technology is often annoying complex...

Re:Can't press multiple keys at once?

Not only does it seem that you wouldn't be able to press multiple keys at once, but with 2 different devices each capable of 8 different positions it follows that you would have no more than 64 character choices. This makes it kind of a tight squeeze, but almost sufficient for typing most things in English.
26 lowercase letters
26 uppercase letters
10 digits
1 period
1 question mark
----------------
64 total characters
Of course, it's missing a comma and apostrophe which I use a pretty fair amount. Maybe you could get another 8 from each hand by using the center position. This would give you a total of 80, giving room for a few more of the common punctuation marks.

Contrast that with the generic Dell keyboard I have in front of me now. 104 keys total. Subtract 9 meta keys that don't do anything on their own. That's 96 unmodified. I now have more than I could figure for the dome thing. By using the 5 unique meta keys (Control, Alt, Shift, windows, menu) I come up with 30 different combinations in which I can press them down or not. Multiplying the remaining 96 keys by 30 I get 2880 possible key combinations. Now there's flexability.
_____________

Re:How it works

There was a story about this on CBC, which includes a small picture.

voila [cbc.ca]

another story - another slashdotted site

...and so I continue my advocasy of mirroring websites in Freenet [freenetproject.org] prior to linking to them on /. (and before you ask - yes I have read the FAQ). What do you think someone would mind more? Their website being mirrored in Freenet (with all links to banner ads etc retained), or to have a well-meaning DOS attack from SlashDot bringing down their website for all of their other users?

My question is not whether it is right for slashdot to mirror websites, but whether it is right for them no to!

--

Flailing arms

Ahh, for once, all the flailing arms seen around the office will not be from frustration...