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Hardware

Build A Custom-Fit One-hand Keyboard 227

Posted by timothy from the twiddler-with-whistles dept.
EyesWideOpen writes: "The New York Times (free reg. req.) has an article about a guy who has invented a one-hand keyboard that really isn't a board at all. The 'Stealthy Keyboard', which is in the prototype development stage, is designed to fit in the palm of the hand and uses the fingertips, the middle of the fingers and combinations of those to generate characters. More information (white paper, downloadable engineering plans, photos, etc.) can be found on this website." Inventor John McKown adds "The kit includes (open) source for the firmware. The code is for a PS/2 port but a USB version is slowly progressing."
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Build A Custom-Fit One-hand Keyboard More

Build A Custom-Fit One-hand Keyboard

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  • groan (Score:5, Funny)

    by kin_korn_karn ( 466864 ) on Monday August 12, 2002 @02:00PM (#4055501) Homepage
    [Insert One Handed Typing Joke Here]
  • is it clicky?

  • Twice as productive (Score:5, Funny)

    by x311 ( 600406 ) on Monday August 12, 2002 @02:01PM (#4055510) Homepage
    Now I just need two mice for my feet and I can deathmatch myself.
    • whoa.. I know you were just kinda kidding, but really, that'd be awesome. On one of my mailing lists, there was recently a post about a guy who could multitask his body/attention. He'd be doing one thing on the chalkboard with one hand, doing a completely different thing with the other hand, blah blah, I found the email so here it is:

      (I take no responsibility for what I'm about to post - what you do with the following information is your own business. Be warned that you could seriously screw up your mind...)

      This Multiple Mentalism course is a revised version of the course originated by Harry Kahne in the early 1920s. At that time he was billed as The Incomparable Mentalist and The Man with the Multiple Mind.

      He often demonstrated his ability on stage by doing six different mental operations simultaneously. His platform performance entailed standing in front of a large blackboard with a piece of chalk in each hand while conversing with the audience. There was a newspaper on a music rack in front of him. He began reading the headlines while writing upside down and backwards with one hand and mirror language with the other hand.

      At his left was another small blackboard on which appeared the number 28,642,981,673 --- which was being divided into five unequal parts --- these figures he began computing at the bottom of the large blackboard. To his right was another small blackboard on which appeared seven columns of figures which ran into the millions. These were being added and notated as well at the bottom of the larger blackboard in front of him.

      This was Harry Kahne's demonstration of doing six things at one time, i.e., reading, transposing, writing backwards and upside down, holding a conversation, adding and dividing. These six separate processes actually involve fourteen distinct operations, i.e., hearing questions, answering questions, reading a newspaper, transposing what is read, transposing spelling, writing with right hand, writing with left hand, writing upside down, carrying six different thoughts in mind, retaining questions, retaining figures for addition, retaining figures for division, proving previous work and controlling all other physical actions of the body --- such as walking, bowing, etc..

      At the end of Harry Kahne's demonstrations, people often asked him, "Do you really believe that nearly everyone can learn to perform the amazing mental feats you demonstrate? Is my brain capable of carrying on four to six independent functions at one and the same time, as yours is? Isn't the ability to master your training confined to well educated people?" When answering, Harry Kahne admitted he had only an average brain to do things no other man in history had done. Education had no bearing on it.

      ...

      http://www.rexresearch.com/articles/kahne.htm#kack nowl [rexresearch.com]

      so playing quake against yourself should be no great feat - one personality gets the left hand, the other gets the right hand (i guess you could split the eyes too - is binocular vision important for the fps?)...
    • That post just made my day. granted it's 10:56pm here, but still, it was worth it.

  • Wow! (Score:4, Funny)

    by Yoda2 ( 522522 ) on Monday August 12, 2002 @02:03PM (#4055533)
    Now if someone would only invent a one-handed mouse...
    • I have had a Twiddler (made by Handkey) for about a year now. It is a one-handed keyboard and mouse. It has worked well for me, and I wonder why this article proclaims the technology to be so prohibitive.

      The Twiddler has 15 keys. You press any combination of three keys to type any character or series of characters. It's a little bit slow, but it works well. As for the mouse, the Twiddler had a stub-style pointer often found on laptops.

      I can get speeds about as fast as on my desktop with my Twiddler. I have to hit 3 keys to type "A", but I also hit 3 keys to type my name, "Drew Bradford."

      The Twiddler did cost me almost $200, so I can see how a lower-priced option would appeal to consumers, but the technology and products themselves have been on the market for quite some time.
      • OMG, Henry Ford invented this thing called a Model T, so why would any one improve on that?

        8086 was a computer, who needs to improve on that?

  • for getting carpal tunnel faster!

    or was that to make you look like a mute?

    wait... he can't be mute because he's also talking on his cellphone..
    \

    • That was the first thought I had as well.

      I wonder if building some kind of wrist restraint into it would help.

      I don't know much about carpal tunnel but I've seen people w/it wearing braces around their wrists. It seems like it would be easy to incorporate that right into this thing.

      Would that help?

      .
  • since he only had 1 finger on his left hand. Needless to say he was quit the hunt and pecker :)

  • USB in progress...? (Score:1, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward
    I'd really love this in USB. Better yet would be a wireless version with a little USB plug (no cords)! Looks like I have a new project to try out in the workshop this weekend...

  • Been there, done that (Score:2, Informative)

    by blamanj ( 253811 )
    Hmmm. I guess he never heard of Doug Engelbart [xanadu.com.au]. (Inventor of the "chord" keyboard, along with the mouse.)
  • What's your plan, John? --Hopefully it includes being able to withstand a slashdotting.
  • What we need is multiple fingers a la ghost in the shell.

    Seriously though I think this keyboard might be great for people who need to move around and stuff but if you're going to just sit in your chair in front of a screen maybe its best to have a "normal" keyboard.
    • Actually, I liked the changing holographic interface the main character in Final Fantasy was using towards the beginning. It seemed well-suited for the applications -- it provided a simple, useful one-handed interface that went completely away when you were done using it.
  • Like we've never seen one of those [tifaq.com] before.

    So, why exactly is this different than other types?

    • Previous chording keyboards haven't been very popular. How is this one different?

      One big reason is that the typing fingers don't grip the unit and don't participate in retaining it within the hand. Trust me; this makes it much simpler to use. It's hard to type with fingers that must grip something at the same time. That's why the only portable one-hander you can buy at present, as far as I know, has a big, ugly, wrist strap . Another reason is that the fingers are never far from their relaxed positions. They don't have to curl tightly, which quickly becomes tiring. This keyboard is small enough to be mostly hidden by the hand so it's not so geeky. Since there's no strap, it can go in and out of a pocket quickly. When you actually get one in your hand you see it's great fun to type so casually and with so little effort.

      Looking at your link- and looking at his site the differences seem pretty obvious in regards to size and cost.

    • Amazingly, it's explained in the article! Imagine that!

      One thing that he says might be original (he hasn't seen it before) is the typing two keys with each finger. Beyond giving eight bits of input (Mmmm... a byte of input), is this unique? It seems like it wouldn't work, but he even acknolwedges that it seems odd and works quite well. It certainly allows for macros and/or a normal share of buckybits (Alt, Control, Shift), something I've never seen in a single hand chording keyboard without having to shift fingers or thumb.

      --
      Evan (no reference)

    • of course we have - but thats not the point. We have all seen many things that are similar... but in this instance we have yet to see one that is comfortable and works well for the masses and is something that can become integrated into our daily lives.

      this one actually seems to fit the bill more-so than many others, in that it is something that you can have *in* your hand as you walk around and do what ever.... a very good interface to the wearable.

      if you follow the link that you have in your post you see that the others are sitting on a table - the main design feature of the ones you reference is the *chording* - whereas in this design the major feature is the ergonomic usability and portablity which is based on the chording keyboard. Its focus is the application of chording - not the development or creation of.

      so - I think that this particular incarnation of the chording keyboard is very practical and I am going to try to make one myself.

      I do a lot of CAD work - and although I am extremely fast when it comes to typing with my left hand... there are just some things that require both hands on the qwerty - which requires that I lose time drawing by having to let go of the mouse - then grab it again... also one thing that makes CAD'ing less efficient is that flat keyboards are difficult to be very precise when hitting rapidly. Requiring the repeat of commands sometimes as many as three times (with requisite swearing - and hitting the keys harder and harder each pass until the damn machine listens to what you are trying to say)

      • "of course we have - but thats not the point. We have all seen many things that are similar... but in this instance we have yet to see one that is comfortable and works well for the masses and is something that can become integrated into our daily lives."

        Rough luck on all those stenotypists who've been using machines like this for decades, huh? (Not one-handed, though.)

        hyacinthus.
  • From wearable computers to disabled people, it could definitely be useful.

    Then again, there is the Dvorak keyboard layout. I wonder how the speed typing one-handed with Dvorak compares to typing on this gadget?

    Mike.

  • games (Score:2, Interesting)

    by TheFlyingGoat ( 161967 )
    I know gaming is probably one of the last things a keyboard designer should consider, but in this case it poses an interesting question: how hard is it to press multiple keys at once? I guess this applies outside of gaming as well. If you use both the middle of fingers as well as the tips, is it easy to press them both? I know for my gaming I need about 15 easily accessible keys. With 5 keys, and all combinations of those you get quite a few more than 15 keys, but I dont want to have to stop running forward while I switch weapons. :)
  • If this thing doesn't have a "board", then how about calling it a keytube?

    --

    Employing incompetence: $35/h
    Fixing the resulting mistakes: $1000's
    Employing me: Priceless [geocities.com]

  • Uhg (Score:2, Funny)

    by DaytonCIM ( 100144 )
    Just another device to distract drivers here in LA. I can just see it now: driving your SUV down the 405, talking on your cellphone, drinking your Starbucks, watching a DVD, and writing an email.

    • Well, why not? Not like driving on the 405 requires much attention anyway. Every few minutes you look up and if the car ahead of you has advanced 10 feet you take your foot off the break pedal for a second (unless someone has merged into the space). It once took me 2.5 hours to get from the South Bay to the Valley, a trip of about 30 miles...
  • If this thing becomes any sort of standard, we'll have normal people being able to count up to 256 in binary on their fingers. Another thing too, depending on how the "chords" map to the alphabet, we may have laypeople who know the ascii system by heart.

    so much for being leet.
  • Handykey [handykey.com] has been producing a one-hand keyboard with gyroscopic mouse for several years now called the Twiddler. There's nothing in this "new" "invention" that isn't in the Twiddler.


    -sam

    • There actually is something "new" about this. Quoting from the article:

      "It's hard to type with fingers that must grip something at the same time. That's why the only portable one-hander you can buy at present, as far as I know, has a big, ugly, wrist strap . Another reason is that the fingers are never far from their relaxed positions. They don't have to curl tightly, which quickly becomes tiring. This keyboard is small enough to be mostly hidden by the hand so it's not so geeky. Since there's no strap, it can go in and out of a pocket quickly. When you actually get one in your hand you see it's great fun to type so casually and with so little effort."

      I've used Twiddlers - they are nice, but everything John (the guy who makes this new one) has said is entirely true.
    • I hate to whine, but did you read his white paper? The twiddler needs a strap; his doesn't. Come ON, folks, RTFWP already!
      -russ
  • I wonder how difficult it will be to adapt this to fit onto my steering wheel...

    This on one side, a trackball on the other. I'm good to go.
  • this just in... another "go-grammer" was hit and killed today as he walked onto highway 44, 27 miles his home. he was found wearing only boxers and a cheerio-stained ThinkGeek t-shirt, and possessed the tell-tale single large forearm. according to drivers, he shuffled like a zombie with a far-away look in his eye, and seemed to be yelling something about "overflows".

    the last information typed into his portable computer read: "oh shi#!#$%%%%%%%%"

  • Sounds really good to me. Sure - you'd have to learn how to use it, but thats no big deal. I learned how to message pretty fast on my cell phone so I'm sure learning the key "chores" he talked about wont be to hard. Sounds like a good application for Bluetooth. You have the thing with you at all times and can use it to input text into your PDA, phone, Laptop or machine at home. And two years later that guy can release version 2 of his keyboard with built in wristwatch...
  • To skip this whole thing all together and continue working on mind reading sensors so you can just think about what to type and it just shows up on the screen

    I believe i've seen similar things before but nothing refined to useability. maybe that will be my next project! anyone know where to get sensors to stick on your head?

  • hmmm.... (Score:1, Redundant)

    by edrugtrader ( 442064 )
    what am i going to do with my other hand? .....!#%!#%!^!@#%$!%#

    this is the greatest idea EVER!!!
  • This looks a little like the MicroWriter available in the UK in 1983. See http://www.nifty.demon.co.uk/odd/mw/. I think the inventor was a certain Cy Enfield. The same keyboard was used later in the AgendA, see for instance http://easyweb.easynet.co.uk/~len/boog/aghist.htm

  • this isn't new.... (Score:2, Informative)

    by csguy314 ( 559705 )
    at all. We did this in one of our labs with the self-titled cyborg, Dr.Steve Mann, at University of Toronto. It was lab 5... you can see for yourself. The class websites are at....

    http://eyetap.org/ece385/ [eyetap.org]

    http://wearcam.org/ece385/ [wearcam.org]

    if you know a little about device drivers, then this isn't very hard...

    • Re:this isn't new.... (Score:2, Informative)

      by EvilFrog ( 559066 )
      Yet another person who didn't read the site...

      He never claimed the concept was new. He refers to the Twiddler on the site, for example. It's just that it has several improvements that none, not even yours, have had to date.

      It does not need to be supported by your fingers to hold it, but rather hooks over your hand. It uses the middle part of your fingers to type as well as the tips. It requires barely any movement to press a key, reducing strain on the hand.

      For these improvements he got a patent. Not the concept of a one-handed keyboard.
  • This similar product has been around for a number of years:

    The Twiddler [handykey.com]...

  • Cool! covert typing! (Score:3, Funny)

    by The_Guv'na ( 180187 ) on Monday August 12, 2002 @02:32PM (#4055793) Homepage Journal

    I'll just hide it in my pocket, and I can stand there quickly typing out covert reports on events, movies, or whatever wherever I am!

    /me wonders what he'd look like

    Uhh... On second thoughts...

    Ali

  • An example of why patents are a good thing (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 12, 2002 @02:33PM (#4055813)
    This is a fine example of why patents are often a tremendous resource to the technical community. Go download the patent from the USPTO and you'll find the blueprint on how to build one of these yourself.

    Patents are in a way the source code for an invention. By law, they must be detailed enough to allow one skilled in the arts to reproduce the invention. Without patents, inventors would be forced to hid the details of the implementation of their invention (or even the entire invention) from others. With a patent we can have all the details on how an invention works and the inventor can still be protected if he or she wishes to sell the invention. Remember, a patent doesn't prevent you from building something as long as you don't do it for profit.

    Why the slasdot community is so hostile towards patents in principle I shall never understand. Sure, in practice there have some screwy patents issued that shouldn't have been, but in general patents spread rather than restrict knowledge.

    • Re:An example of why patents are a good thing (Score:4, Insightful)

      by Jerf ( 17166 ) on Monday August 12, 2002 @03:51PM (#4056350) Journal
      "Slashdot", inasmuch as it can be said to have an opinion, is hostile to software patents.

      In fact, many of us against software patents are just fine with mechanical patents, which is after all where patents came from. However, your own message provides an excellent argument about why software should not be patented. When software is patented, it does not provide enough information to allow one skilled in the arts to reproduce the invention, it only sorta/kinda describes it. It does not provide all the details on how the software works. Read, for instance, the Amazon one-click patent, and then try to implement it. You will find that there are hundreds, possibly thousands, of unresolved issues in how exactly the system should work and persist data.

      In fact, patents should really only cover source code. Source code would meet your criteria for the goodness of patents. Source code is already protected under both copyright law (no matter what), and trade secret law (if the company so desires). Why should software be patented, if none of the legitimate advantages of a patent derive from that act, since those advantages and more are covered by the copyright system, yet we get all of the disadvantages that we have seen in software patents (ambiguity, unfair patent grants, patent land grabs)?

      If you can answer that question with some degree of usefulness (i.e., applicability in the real world, rather then vague sweeping claims of potentially hypothetical advantages based on pre-conceived notions, which is all I've ever seen in software patent's defense), then maybe you can ask incredulously why Slashdot is so against patents. Personally, after several years pondering the issue, I don't believe there is an answer, which is why I don't think software should be patentable.

      For all the reasons you mentioned, and a few others (such as the fact the patent is of limited duration), I think that patenting the keyboard in question is totally legitimate. All the posters claiming "this has all been done" to the contrary, there are some legitimately clever and new ideas in this design that deserve protection before one of the established companies steal them from him. Maybe the ideas are dumb and won't work, but he deserves the shot in a fair market to find out whether this product can sell.

      (For those who claim this issue has been done, find me a product with all the characteristics the guy enumerates on his site, and maybe I'll listen then. In particular a chord keyboard with the fingers in neutral like that, that is an excellent idea that apparently isn't obvious, seeing as how no commercial product has done it yet.)
    • That's the theory behind patents. Unfortunately, the theory is seldom achieved. Most patents aren't detailed enough to allow one killed in the arts to reproduce the invention. Most often, inventions ARE obvious to one skilled in the art (because patent examiners aren't skilled in the art). And most often the best way to make money from a patent is by building the thing.

      And I haven't even gotten into submarine patents, which totally subvert the process you described.
      -russ
    • This is a fine example of why patents are often a tremendous resource to the technical community. Go download the patent from the USPTO and you'll find the blueprint on how to build one of these yourself.

      Big deal. There are plenty of one-handed chorded keyboards around, with minor differences in shape and major differences in layout and chords.

      Having a patent on them is self-defeating--why would anybody want to invest their time and effort in learning a patented input method when there are plenty of free ones around?

      Remember, a patent doesn't prevent you from building something as long as you don't do it for profit.

      There is no "non-profit" exception for patents. If an invention is patented, you are not permitted to build it for any reason without a license from the patent holder: not for research, not as a prototype, not to enhance it, not to try it out, not for education, not for fun.

      Why the slasdot community is so hostile towards patents in principle I shall never understand.

      Perhaps that has something to do with the fact that you don't seem to have a clue about the patent system. As someone who actually holds a number of patents, I can tell you: they are a useless waste of time and money. Most small inventors cannot easily afford them or prosecute them, and large companies just use them to keep innovators out of their markets. The overall result is bad for consumers and bad for inventors; only lawyers and large companies really benefit from the system (and the politicians they give lots of money to).

  • How many of you farking morons are going to repetively spew the same damned garbage already. Look, we don't need 500 posts about the twiddler, or your personal half assed attempts at building one.

    Oh, and the twiddler. It's not even fucking close. Does it fit nearly into the palm of the hand? No. Does it use "chording" of less than 10 buttons? No..

    Now, being that Im' through with my rant, I would like talk about my mutant version of this keyboard which also incorporates a heavily hacked CueCat barcode scanner, but the collective has redesignated me to another cube, and I must leave now.
  • Since you can type 256 (2^8) different "keys" with one hand, would that be 2^16 keys with a two-handed setup?

    Could you perhaps integrate a mouse or trackball into it?
    • well have you looked at the pictures on the site?
      ?
      ?
      an eraser head would work, but a trackball wouldn't without modifying it to rest on the hand and forearm. the thumb isn't supposed to move much in the current setup
  • While I wholeheartedly applaud this guy's efforts, I think he's missing the possibilities of using the upward motion of the finger as well as the downward. That having been said, I think this is fantastic. This might push me over the edge to ditch my 19" trinitron for some glasses.

    For those who don't want to go through NYT, you can go right to his site at chordite.com [chordite.com].
    • I think the muscles that clench the hand into a fist are typically much stronger and more endurant than those that unclench the fist. Using upward strokes would cause one's hands to get tired much faster than a typing device that uses only downward strokes.

  • Not the twiddler at all (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Tony ( 765 ) on Monday August 12, 2002 @02:41PM (#4055865) Journal
    Mr. McKown acknowledges the existence of chording keyboards. His patent covers the physical configuration, not the idea of a chording keyboard. His design allows the typing fingers freedom; they do not need to support the keybard at all, providing a more comfortable experience.

    Also, the design is unobtrusive. He refers to it as a "stealthy" keyboard. I don't know if that's such a big fat hairy deal, but the comfort aspect is.
    • Not to mention the largest point which is that *this keypad is ergonomic*
      Other keypads force you to manipulate your fingers into uncomfortable positions, whereas this uses much more natural finger positions.
  • it's called the Twiddler from handykey (www.handykey.com) and anyone who is a part of wearable computing has touched one at least once in their lifetime.. Granted, making your own is cool, but it's far from innovative..

  • Some prior art for ya.... (Score:2, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Home [slashdot.org]: Input Devices: Hand / keyboard

    HandyKey Twiddler 2 [handykey.com]The Twiddler2 is a pocket-sized mouse pointer plus a full-function keyboard in a single unit that fits neatly in either right or left hand. The Twiddler2 plugs into both keyboard and mouse PS/2 ports on any computer that accepts standard PS/2 mouse and keyboard input. WearClam: A Wearable Input Interface [fi-b.unam.mx]The WearClam is an wearable Input device, developed for those situations where you need keyboard-like input nearly all the time. It is an ergonomic ring which resembles a real Clam's shape and as such it could be considered as a wearable interface for a wearable computer. L3 Systems WristPC Keyboard [l3sys.com]L3 Systems has developed the WristPC Keyboard for portable and wearable computer applications. The WristPC is a rugged QWERTY keyboard with a standard PC keyboard interface. The housing is a black anodized aluminum. Completely sealed, it can operate in the rain and other harsh environments. Fitaly One-Finger Keyboard [fitaly.com]This "keyboard" is optimized for entry with a single finger or with a pen, as is the case on a pen computer or a computer with a touchscreen. The Fitaly One-Finger Keyboard minimizes pen or finger travel as well as hand travel. Tactex smart fabric technology [tactex.com]Tactex's Smart Fabric technology enables the manufacture of both expressive and rugged control surfaces, which can be presented in a wide variety of shapes, sizes, and surface finishes. A retail product, the MTC Express, is about the size of a mouse pad, and is produced for Mac and Windows platforms. Senseboard virtual keyboard [senseboard.com]Senseboard (tm) is a virtual keyboard, designed for the millions of mobile computer users, struggling with their tiny or nonexistent keyboards when trying to communicate or type. The VK hand mounted devices allow the user to type on any surface as if it were a keyboard. Sensors in the units measure the finger movements and artificial intelligence and a language processor determine appropriate keystrokes or mouse movements. Thunbscript Input Devices [thumbscript.com]Thumbscript (TM) is a patented universal text entry system for mobile people and devices. Equally at home with Pen based devices like the Palm Pilot and keypad devices like your telephone or TV controller, Thumbscript offers users a single system that is simple, inexpensive to implement and easy to use because it is visual. FrogPad keyboard [frogpad.com]The "FrogPad" is a 19-key device that uses patented simultaneous key function change technology to emulate a full-size keyboard, and requires a fraction of the physical space. Kord Interface Technology [wetpc.com.au]Kord (R) Interface Technology (Kord [R] IT)is a suite of hardware and software that creates "an ambidextrous, chordic Human Machine Interface HMI, suitable for any computing device". Essential Reality P5 Glove [essentialreality.com]To digitally "walk" through an online room or actually "pick up" objects in a video game requires the ability to manipulate in three-dimensions. Not through complicated keystrokes but by the simple movement of your hand in space.

  • Hello,

    I've been working on a one handed keyboard that uses hat switches..., fits arround a PDA, and uses an IBM or Toshiba style pointing stick where the thumb is.

    The hat switches can fit on the other side of the knuckle, and can be moved in many directions.

    (think serations of a knife with hat switches in the dips)
    the points will protect the keys.

    The hat switches are very short.

    you can either look at the PDA or not to type.
    you can use the thumb on the same hand to control a mouse.

    I've been thinking about this for a year or so...
    I don't wish to patent it, however I do wish to see it come about... and want to attack anybody else who pattents it.

    You may barrow this design as long as you do not claim exlcusive rights to make it.
    509 332 7697 is my phone number.

    I hate missuse of patents, so lets make a prior art database to keep things free! (or tell me about one that has already started)
  • I've thought for a while that PDAs should have three- or four-button modified Morse code input systems built in: compact, faster than a stylus, easier to use than a tiny keyboard.

    Chording keyboards make even more sense- stenographers have been using them for years, and typing at well over 200 wpm- but it takes some work to learn the system, and there isn't a simple "hunt and peck" way for beginners to get by until they learn it.

    Of course, my Morse idea would take some learning if you didn't already know Morse.
  • but I don't think I can use this device, as I only know three chords.
  • Douglas Engelbart, father of just about everything 'modern' in computing, showed a chord keyboard in 1968. Do a google search for 'chord keyboard' to see how many other people are doing stuff, or 'chord keyboard douglas' to find out stuff about D.E., including RealMedia of his 1968 demo.
  • I remember seeing ads for a one-handed keyboard in the computer magazines back in the early 80's. It was dome shaped, with two buttons for each finger and several for the thumb. IIRC, you had to basically memorize the binary values for the ASCII table to use the thing.

  • Emacs (Score:4, Insightful)

    by cgleba ( 521624 ) on Monday August 12, 2002 @03:17PM (#4056104)
    Hmm. . .to get a character with this keyboard one often presses many keys at the same time to make a "chord" and produce a character.

    Can you imagine the insanity editing in Emacs would be? :). M-> for end of buffer or C-M-w for append next kill to last. . .do we have that many fingers?
  • I'm sure I heard years ago about Stephen Hawkins using something similar...

    I do see that there are some differences, but I can't see anything to suggest this is revolutionary.

    Personnally I would prefer to be able to input text using my apaulling hand writing (spelling included), maybe a A5 sized tablet with a full active screen, powerful enough to display all marks made immediately on the screen, thus aiding input.

  • I've always been intrigued by the Twiddler, but have been a little leery of the potential for carpal tunnel syndrome from using it (not that thousands of people have already gotten carpal tunnel syndrome from using two-handed QWERTY boards, but I haven't, yet).

    This device looks like it might conform even better to one's hand than the flatter looking Twiddler.

    What strikes me, though, is that the ultimate in one-handed keyboard comfort would be to customize the shape according to individual hands.

    Once you get the basic electronics down to size, just have people go to sleep with some kind of goo in their hands that will harden into a shape that is natural for your relaxed hand.

    Haven't joysticks come up with sufficient touch pads for emulating a full QWERTY board yet?

  • We're supposed to be training the technology (Score:4, Insightful)

    by ianscot ( 591483 ) on Monday August 12, 2002 @03:27PM (#4056188)
    ...not the other way around. This approach gets rid of the physically stupid part of keyboards, but it doesn't address the big learning curve for something so basic. If anything it seems like it'd make the learning worse, because one key != one symbol.

    Example: In order to pare the number of keys, all these designs resort to "Chords" -- multiple keys hit in combination, or in sequence, to produce a result. This design gets different results from your fingertips as opposed to pressure with the middle of your finger, too. So how many hard-to-recall combinations of left-thumb-tip with right-index-finger knuckle are we going to need to remember to avoid hitting ctrl-q when we meant "Q"? Not the system to learn on the laptop where you keep all your contact info, right?

    We're past the point where we should be teaching ourselves elaborate new routines to accommodate new technologies. The Palm handwriting system is a good example of how crappy that model is; I can't stand that the OS is trying to make me learn a new way to write "T" as a capital letter. That's just wrongheaded. The technology's supposed to be conforming to us, and that's not just a physical thing.

    • Graffitti is precisely the way we should be going. I know, I know you want to jack your brain in and all that but for now things like Graffitti make the most sense.

      Your capital T curves up, mine looks like a T Square, his looks like italic script, hers looks like a small T anyway. How is a computer supposed to know what you're talking about? (See also The Newton)

      Giving you the parameters with which to work in is VERY MUCH the computer way. Despite what you may think we HUMANS must CONFORM to the COMPUTER all the time. (See also Programming.)

      I mean Hell just look at spelling, none of it makes sense. (See also ghoti == fish)
      • "Your capital T curves up, mine looks like a T Square, his looks like italic script, hers looks like a small T anyway. How is a computer supposed to know what you're talking about?"

        The same way other humans know.

        Only faster.

        -- Terry
    • > We're past the point where we should be teaching
      > ourselves elaborate new routines to accommodate
      > new technologies.

      You learned to read and write as a child, didn't you? It's simply a fact of life that to communicate you have to learn things that aren't neccessarily intuitive.

      Who's to say that using chords is any more complicated than a standard 101 key board?
    • You are partially right, we should design things to be as simple as possible, but we cannot design them to be simpler than is possible. When you come up with a simpler, easier to learn one-handed keyboard, I'll buy it.

      Until then, a learning curve is a fact of life. Adapt or die

      When I started writing math intensive papers, I learned LaTeX. There were easier to learn ways to do what I needed(word would do all of it from drop down menus, for instance), but none of the others could match the input speed I had with LaTeX(pure typing, no mouse), and none of the others gave me as much control as LaTeX did. I gladly traded time put in mastering the technique and overcoming the learning curve in order to get that speed and that control.

      I hate it when interface designers make things more complicated than they have to be, but when they do have to be that complicated to get the full benefit, then so be it. Once this is commercially available, I'll happily deal with the learning curve for the benefits I think it would bring.

  • is excellent! Short, and straight to the point.

    I quote [chordite.com]:

    "2002 08 06 Patent issued, website up."

  • Here is the story, no registration required...

    Keyboard for Those on the Move [nytimes.com]

  • For those interested in something that fills this function, leverages your existing typing skills, and does not require chording check out the half keyboard [halfkeyboard.com]. The disadvantage I can see is that it isn't truly one-handed as you need to strap it to your other arm, and as a result it's also not "stealth". The advantage is you can buy it right now. I do not own one of these or endorse the product in any way, but I had a link that actually seemed to be on topic for once. :)
  • a good point of this 'keyboard' is that th hand can be held in th thumb up position which is our more natural tool using hand posture and i would imagine places much less pressure on th carpal tunnel

    and off on a small tangent i would like to see a 'keyboard' which uses two hands with th fingers lightly wired up and tapping against each other - probably also with chording combinations

    palms would be pressed together and held straight out while 'typing' or alternatively with th fingers pointing straight upward and th hands held in front of th chest - a lovely image of us communicating with our computers in a natural attitude of prayer

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