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Hardware

Not A Bat, Nor A Plane, But A Vertical Keyboard 134

Posted by timothy from the need-any-beta-testers? dept.
A reader who chose anonymity writes: "As usual ZZZ online was updated this Sunday. Nevertheless the issue number 67 contains quite unusual info about vertical keyboard. It is made by splitting normal keyboard into two parts and and rotating them by 90 degrees. The human imagination has no limits, vertical keyboard looks really weird." It also looks much comfier than most flat ones. Maybe that would make me learn to truly touch type, as well?
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Not A Bat, Nor A Plane, But A Vertical Keyboard More

Not A Bat, Nor A Plane, But A Vertical Keyboard

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  • A reader who chose anonymity writes . . .

    Are we seeing a new era of respect and tolerance for anonymous cowards on Slashdot? Or was this guy just named "A reader who chose anonymity"?

  • I have one of those split-keyboards which raise up a fair angle, but there's one major drawback that comes up when I use it - mouse control.

    Although most of my machine usage is within a shell and using vi as an editor, but on some occasions, I find I need to take one of my hands away from the keyboard to make use of the mouse.

    What would be truly cool would be some mouse control on the ergonomic keyboard. That would be handy - bridging these two worlds.

  • some raised charatcters on the key caps? I really want to know. A keyboard alternative like this brings up a few ideas like a curved forward keyboard ala the m$ one but with more curvature forward and vertically. Not to the extreme we see here where its perpendicular to the workspace. I think more in the range of 60 degrees up and 40 degrees forward (adjustable would be nice so while I'm dreaming...). The tactile sensation of the finger tip could easily recognize the shapes after a few uses. I worked on a CAD system for a few weeks in '86 (i cannot remember the name possibly microcadam) that used a breakout keybord to input commands that lit up when they commands were active and had recognizable shapes on the keycaps. It made using the system very easy to learn.Why don't these newfangled keyboard designers use the raised symbol/character idea and build us a real keyboard that everyone could learn to touch type with?

  • This thing was invented at least ten years ago. It didn't end up in volume production at least partially because the guy who patented it wanted it built in the USA only.
  • >What I want from a mouse is for it to not require me to take my hands from the keyboard, and I don't mean a touchpad.

    I've seen the alternative.j Trust me, it SUCKED.

    It was on a 486 Zenith laptop. They made the J key a J key _and_ a pointing device. Tap it and it makes a letter. Wiggle jand smush it and it moves the mouse. Tap another key j(or something like that) along with it and it "clicked". Ugggh...

    I found it It hard to control, and it occasionally made udiciously placed mistakes. What a oke. jjj

    Maybe there are better ideas. I'd like to see jthem...
  • This keyboard looks a little like a chair to me. Sit on it and operate the keyboard(s) on either side of the butt. Next step, sit the keyboard on top of a tower-format PC. Use LCD-head-up display instead of a CRT monitor. Lower a cardboard container around yourself. Hey presto, you're in the ultimate cubicle. Fit 20 software engineers in the area normally needed for one! Hell, why not stack'em too?

    And when the dot.com crashes the Boss can just open the garage door & push them out on the street.

    Remember, you read it here first.

    Regards, Ralph.
  • "You could wear it on your chest..."

    Don't accordian players already enjoy far too much of an unfair advantage in the struggle for world domination as it is?

  • ...and that goes double for accordion players!
  • plus, as a bonus, you could learn to read braille. ;)

    eudas

  • Hmm. Maybe they were appealling to the mass market rather than to the perfectionist properly taught typists.

    Personally I've never been taught to type, I find that the 'b' key is on the wrong side of the MS split keyboards for how I type, but (and I just checked this) the '6' key is on the correct side for me.

    Then again, I can only touch-type with 100% accuracy at 80wpm, so I'm not exactly an expert. Anybody that can do 100+ care to comment?

    ~Cederic
    ps: I have no idea whether it's appealling or appealing. But one l looks better.
  • seing several vertical split keyboards over the years.. the most notable one being adjustable, so you could set any angle from a flat normal keyboard to pretty much 90 degrees vertical.

    It also had some small, rounded but hard (plastic) wrist rests.. but they were designed to keep the forearm (just behind the wrist) supported off the table, so you didn't get guerilla-arm syndrome from typing on the vertical pad.

  • I know that 2 usb mice can be used at the same time, is that also the case with 2 usb keyboards, just tilt them up, one to each side, which would jut right in front of my keyboard... nevermind.
  • I could see this as being very comfortable if it were mounted to the side of your chair, that way your arms hang limp at your sides and you type. If it's on a table as shown in the picture I think it would suck.

  • Yes, it's odd, but this is really not that newsworthy a story.

    As someone with carpal tunnel, I'd say it's great that it might someday exist in a usable form, but nobody is going to take this on.

    Carpal tunnel damage occurs as the tendons scrape the walls of the carpal tunnel from repeated motion (i.e., typing). The vertical keyboard would, theoretically, have your hands resting in a way that your wrists would not need to flex, thereby avoiding the damage.

    However, I'd bet that if there's _ANY_ flexing on the vertical axis, lifting your hand sideways will be _MORE_ stressful, just from the extra bit of resistance provided by gravity.

    Anyway, this story is still not worthy of /. And I'm a part of the group that this would supposedly be "great news" to.

    -k.
  • Just another example of people copying from Apple. Apple had a split keyboard prototype at least 4 years ago.
  • Most people agree that flat keyboards are not very ergonomic. Taking a flat keyboard, splitting it in two, and rotating the pieces 90 degrees doesn't change the fact that it is a flat keyboard.

    When I want to explain ergo keyboards to people, I ask them to hold their hands out in front of them at chest height. Go ahead and do it. Now look at your hands: your hand will be in a straight line with your arm, and your hands will be slightly angled. It isn't natural or really comfortable to bend your wrists at the precise angle needed to line up your fingers in a flat row for a normal flat keyboard.

    Now look at a Microsoft Natural Keyboard. The angling of the keys allows your hands to be in more of a straight line with your arms. The bulge in the middle more closely matches the slight angle you want to hold your hands at. It helps.

    The Microsoft Natural Keyboard is nowhere near as extreme as other ergo keyboards I have seen, but in my experience it makes a big difference. Once I strained my neck muscles, and typing on a flat keyboard became very painful if I did it for more than an hour or so. Since I was programming for 10 hours a day I had a problem. I tried the Microsoft Natural Keyboard and I was able to type on it all day, even with the strained muscles. I very much doubt that this new keyboard would have helped me.

    P.S. Of course I could be wrong. If you naturally hold your hands out angled and rotated in such a way that your fingers are in a flat row, congratulations! You are perfectly evolved for non-ergo keyboards!

    steveha

  • Look at the screwdriver! (Score:4)

    by steveha ( 103154 ) on Sunday January 21, 2001 @02:27PM (#492008) Homepage
    Forget the split keyboard; further down on that same page they describe a new screw head and screwdriver design. One screwdriver for multiple screw sizes, less likely to mangle screw heads... looks like a winner to me.

    steveha

  • ...is for it to not restrict me just because I have two hands.

    _Mice_ really need to be revamped. What I want from a mouse is for it to not require me to take my hands from the keyboard, and I don't mean a touchpad.

    Perhaps a mouse not used by the hands would be good. What kind of alternatives can be thought up? I've read about a setup that follows eye-blinks and eye-movement, but it was used for somebody that is permanently bedridden (but they could type with it too, and wrote a book or two).

    Maybe some kind of under-desk light sensor, with a knee-pad, so that you wobble your knee around to move the cursor would be usable...actually, wouldn't that be annoying?!

    I don't know. I want something better than a mouse, what can you come up with?

    -k.
  • Heck, just shell out the few extra bucks and get a natural kb. I've got the Trust natural Kb (not sure if they still make it), and it's the best kb I've ever had. Absolutely love it.
  • Because after a couple of hours of touch-typing practice, you don't *need* raised letters to find anything on a standard keyboard layout....
    It's never even occurred to me that such a thing might have use...

    And you don't need to 'feel' each letter to learn to touchtype.. all you need is two divots for the proper initial finger placement.
  • Someone:
    The vertical keyboard can't be bought anywhere, it has never gone out of the lab.

    Crap. Why, in fact, did this ever make it here as an article? Look what I just found.

    http://www.typesafe.com/ [typesafe.com].

    If it's not available, why does NASA recommend it?

    --

  • Are you sure that's a keyboard and not a couch?
  • Actually the "6" key is on the right side of the keyboard for the split. That's how I was taught to type at least. But then again, I can only type 75 wpm with 95% accuracy. To the above poster, the B key on my lovely Adesso ergo keyboard is on the left side, just where I like it.
  • ...is a split keyboard so I can put one piece each of the arm rests on a big comfy chair, so I could lean back and get some distance from the monitors and rest my arms so I wouldn't have to worry about any wrist-problems. Anyone know where to get one? --- I work with my computer, I eat with my computer, I sleep with my computer... No, wait.. ---
  • A new reports shows that people that discribe them selves as "typing via the point and peck method" have reported a large number of neck problems just one week after the new vertical computer keyboard was released at cornell......


    ________

  • Definitely looks strange. I wonder how they'd stack up to a split keyboard on the ergonomic scale... looks like it could potentially be good, if the comfort level increases with practice.
  • I have thought about this as well, but I would like to have the keyboard on my belly, and I would lie down on a dentist chair or a sofa (tapping my belly as if I had just had a great dinner). Instead of a monitor I would use a video projector aimed at the ceiling! Lying on a sofa or dentist chair (forgetting the dentist, of course) is way more comfortable for my back&shoulders than sitting in a usual bureau chair and I guess it is also way healthier for my eyes, to have the screen 2m above me instead of at 30cm or so in front. And I am not a gamer (except for chess), but playing action games with 3D effects would be life sized in this way, much more impressive than confined in 15inch box...
  • |HEAD|

    It's cool, you rest your head between the halves of the keyboard and doze off while keeping the hands on the keyboard to look like you are typing.

    But, seriously, don't you think a keyboard that felt like a pair of tits would sell better among the male geeks ?

  • ...to spot the boss approaching when playing Quake! Saves spending money on one of those little things they sell over at ThinkGeek...
  • ...specifically, a chord of about 8 inches diameter cut from a sphere of about 2 feet diameter. You could wear it on your chest and look like Tarzan beating your chest as you type -- but I think it would be pretty comfortable to use. The slowpokes could look down and see the keys, too.
  • When I click on the above link, I get to a page headed "tripod - error 404", but which contradictorily states:

    Hello! This file is hosted by Tripod, a Lycos Network site, providing the best personal and commercial publishing tools available on the Net. For premier homepages and lively community interaction, visit Tripod often.

    Please click on http://members.tripod.com/laffs/images/keyboard.jp g [tripod.com] to load this file."

    Clicking that takes you to exactly the same place. What delightful recursion.

    --

  • Re:Ergonomics? (Score:4)

    by digitect ( 217483 ) <digitect&dancingpaper,com> on Sunday January 21, 2001 @02:34PM (#492023)
    Two things cause carpel tunnel syndrome: pressure on the wrists and any type of wrist-turning motion done repeatedly.

    This keyboard would be successful in reducing wrist strain only because it prevents people from resting on them or using those stupid wrist rests that only increase pressure on the wrapping wrist ligaments. Of course, if you just support your lower arms (and most importantly, your elbows) off your work surface, much the same way a pianist does, it might be a little cheaper even though a little extra work until you get used to it.

    The huge drawback I see with this concept is that finger action is no longer aided by gravity. You essentially have to re-learn the pressure needed for key action and don't have any opposing force to steady your arms. Instead, your arms swing like pendulums, your fingers bouncing off the keyboard surface like a repeller. This might work better if the surfaces were at a 45 degree angle or less but 90 degrees? I hope not much federal money went into this project...

  • Heck, just shell out the few extra bucks and get a natural kb.

    Maybe if/when IBM makes a split keyboard I'll consider it, but I can't use anything less than an IBM keyboard with those oh-so-wonderful keys. I think I get at least another 20% speed just because of the key feel.

    Say what you want about IBM, but they are the keyboard king. Everything else is cheap crap in comparison. Unfortunately, I don't think they make the really indestructable, old-school I-can-kill-you-with-this-steel-case-keyboard anymore. On the other hand, the plastic ones are virtually indestructable, but it would be harder to kill someone. :) [would probably take several blows]


    --

  • Exactly. But I bet you British Telecom or Amazon have already patented it.

    --
  • Can anyone post a url that works?

    MyopicProwls

  • It takes you to the same url, but this time, it shows you the picture instead of that message.
  • Not necessarily for pr0n, but when I'm coding, I sometimes like to have one hand holding the reference manual open.

    And not looking at the keyboard?? Guess you've never used keyboards from different countries/timeperiods have you? The symbols that you need for coding are all over the place!

    Ditch the windows key....what's wrong with Ctrl-Esc?

  • the twiddler. A handheld chording keyboard. check out www.handykey.com I just got one last week and it is very cool. There's a bit of a learning curve involved but it will be well worth it. Frees up tons of desk space. lean back and relax instead of hunching over your desk. Great for mobile computing. I found the twiddler by following links on a previous /. article, but since since i just got one and love it, i'd thought in put in my $.02.
  • I didn't find the nipple to be that bad after a month or so of using it.

    I think this quote stands by itself...

    Kaa
  • I have previously seen a very expensive keyboard designed to protect against RSI. It was similar to this, in that the keys are split up and vertically mounted, but it was curved so that the 2 keyboards were effectively on either side of a cylinder.

    Quite effective apparently, but v expensive.

    I'm not sure about this one though. As a previous poster noted, it would be more RSI-friendly if it was curved.

  • Take a look at this:

    http://www.ergopro.com/comfort.html [ergopro.com]

    I saw one of these at MIT's Adaptive Technology [mit.edu] lab back in the early 90's. The toothed gears on the bottom are used to secure/release gimble mounts on each section, allowing full adjustability, including the (supposedly less than optimal) rectilinear configuration used above.

  • You know what I mean. All those Windows, menu and web keys will soon make the space bar and the Ctrl-keys smaller than the regular keys.

    I just want a plain keyboard with 101 keys and maybe a built-in fridge, to prevent all the pizza cumbs between the keys from stinking.

  • A co-worker of mine has had a chair with a vertical keyboard attachment for at least the past 4 years.

    At first I thought he manufactured it himself, but according to him, he bought it from a place online.

    I'm not interested in finding it right now though. I still hate split-ergonomic keyboards. I like my $10 cheapy one that's lasted for 7 years.

    -m
  • an accordian player's dream keyboard.
  • This design would also help with the muscles of you lower arms. I had Pronators(SP?) syndrome, basically problems with the muscles in my lower arms because my arms spent most of their time palms down. I am not explaining this very good, but it can be a problem. All the muscles that do the work for moving your fingers are in your lower arm.
    A key board in this position, vertically, keeps your arms in a neutral position. Assuming your hand is flat and your thumb rests on your hand in such a way that everything is flat, when you hand is perpendicular to the floor is when the muscles in your lower arm are at rest.
    This key board might be ok, but I would much rather have a keybaord that can adjust. This [comfortkeyboard.com] keyboard rotates from flat to 90 degrees and you can sperate the the parts up to 6 feet apart. This is the one I would because you can adjust it.

  • Re:gfhgfh (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Note that three 'first post' attempts were submitted within a minute -- his lack of a socially conscious message such as "JonKatz is a boyeater" is probably what netted him the FP. You can say anything you want now, but you don't have the first post, and therefore aren't entitled to payment from the FPCA. So FONS.

    -- The_Messenger

  • It was on tv about 5 years ago. (I think it was on that old Discovery channel show Beyond 2000) It looked liked this one, but there wasn't a spacer in between the halves; they were directally attached to each other.
  • You can get a minimal 3-piece keyboard called the Ergo-Flex [comfortkeyboard.com] from the Comfort Keyboard company [comfortkeyboard.com]. Then you can arrange it however you like, even on the arms of your chair, like this fellow. [stanford.edu]

  • Your point brought something to mind...

    Amazon have patented "one click" which basically devolves down into a single hyperlink...

    BT claim to have a patent on hyperlinks...

    So why the heck aren't BT suing Amazon? After all, he who lives by the patent should die by the patent.

  • Tripod does this to prevent users from hosting their sites elsewhere and just using Tripod accounts for disk space. I assume it just checks the referring page and throws up a click-through if it isn't from a tripod.com URL. This is a necessary annoyance to prevent abuse from Geocities lusers and porn webmasters.

    All generalizations are false.

  • I like your sig -- my variation is, "Every vote was counted -- every legal vote, that is."

    All generalizations are false.

  • You know, one of the nice things about flat keyboards is the fact that you can lay your hands down on a wrist rest while typing, thereby giving your arms a rest. I don't see that happening with that keyboard...

    Also, that keyboard would have to be stuck down pretty well to keep it from moving as you typed something that required only one hand or hit the arrow keys a bunch. I don't think I like the idea of that keyboard too much.
  • I've seen keyboards like this since '94 when I worked at Hewlett Packard.

    There is nothing whatsoever new about this keyboard. Lame article.

    - Necron69
  • http://www.comfortkeyboard.com/

    The comfort keyboard is fully adjustable from standard keyboard position/flat to full upright vertical. The individual sections also rotate along the Z-axis to allow for people of different widths. (Think of it -- a *w - i - d - e* person's hands will angle in to a keyboard from a different angle than a |thn| person's.

    The adjustability helps you adjust from 'normal' to whatever degree of vertical you want. They are *great* keyboards.

    They truely allow a "zero" wrist bend / torque for typing. Think of the ergonomics. Stand with hands at your side. Bend your elbows and bring your hands up. Your palms will be facing *in. Now bring your hands in till they arout a foot apart. If a keyboard was "vertical", you still have to bend your hands outward to be parallel, but if the keyboard is fully adjustable, you can adjust the keyboard on the 'Z' axis to match the natural angle of your inward bend -- a unique angle depending on your body frame size.

    If you have wrist strain and work at a desk top -- this is GREAT. I wish laptop manufacturers would come up with something like this built-in (yes you can attach the keyboard as an external keyboard, but that doesn't help when you are using your laptop on your lap). Sigh.

    -l
  • I find this observation quite correct. I have a Bachelor of Science degree in Security Science.. not comp sec, real security. I have quite an interest in tamperproof fixing devices, and I have drivers to undo most of them :) In my extensive travels, I must say that I have only ever seen Robertson head screws in Canada.. and they're absolutely everywhere :)

    Canada is a cool place :D

  • This would be a good time to mention the Interfaces Keyboard [ergointerfaces.com] from Cramer [ergointerfaces.com]. It's a split keyboard, each half attaching to the arms of your chair and having six degrees of freedom. I've been using one for over a year. Sweet! My wrist and, surprisingly, back problems have decreased by an order of magnitude.

    I only have two complaints -- One, the integrated trackpad sucks rocks. It's as good as any other trackpad I've ever used, but I think they all suck rocks. I ignore it and still use my ancient Mouse Systems optical rodent. The other is that the function keys and obscure punctuation keys are a far reach. I have to move my whole arm to get to F12, and I find myself hittting backslash instead of backspace if my arms are a little out of position.

    The other complaint is price. It ain't cheap! But I got my company to shell out for it, so I can't complain too much...

    A great side-benefit is that the IS people refuse to touch my computer now, since they don't grok my keyboard. This is a Good Thing! :-)


    Chelloveck
  • About ten years ago on PBS's Computer Chronicles, they showed the Tony Keyboard, which was just a prototype that allowed adjustments from a normal flat keyboard up till the two halves were vertical but right next to each other.
    When the show aired, the inventor was saying that he hadn't sold the idea to a manufacturer yet, because he had made the stipulation that the keyboard had to be manufactured in the United States, which no manufacturer had accepted so far.
  • "Square-head recessed slot, that provides far better torque than hex, plus can't be stripped-out."

    More or less true. Instead of stripping screws, you switch to stripping drivers. I've stripped more cheap Robertson drivers than I care to remember. On the other hand, I can't recall ever stripping a Phillips driver.

    I've also stripped my share of Robertson screws. It's hard to do, but when all you have handy is an overpowered single-speed 3000+ RPM drill...

    A decent Robertson driver is a work of art though.

    c.
  • I've stripped Phillips drivers. Gyproc screws: case hardened, exceptionally tough. And, IIRC, not exactly a Phillips slot, though a Phillips will fit.

    Have never stripped a good Robertson screw, nor a good Robertson screwdriver.

    --
  • Comment removed based on user account deletion
  • After doing the little imaginary finger dance that all of us did immeadiately after reading the description of the keyboard, I would have to say that this would be LESS comfortable than a regular keyboard. It is much easier to press keys downward (with gravity) than it is to press sideways. It would also require more vertical strength in the index and middle fingers, I think.

  • Nah, just get one of these [thinkgeek.com]. A DBA at the office has one with the Oracle logo on it. Pretty sweet.

    All generalizations are false.

  • It takes you to the same url, but this time, it shows you the picture instead of that message.

    Not for anyone running IE5 for MacOS (often described as the best browser yet [macpublishing.net]). And before anyone accuses me of being a Mac weenie, I run the MacOS on my SuSE Linux [www.suse.de] box using Mac-on-Linux [maconlinux.com], so I can use things like IE5, Adobe Photoshop and BBEdit [barebones.com].

    Not that it really matters; it's probably the same picture that I have here [downlode.org].

    --

  • Isn't this pretty much the same as the 'Comfort (TM) Keyboard system [comfortkeyboard.com]', except maybe a bit less adjustable?
  • >>Side mirrors? on a keyboard?!
    >
    >What's next? An airbag?

    Yes, because the next version of this will appear in your internet-enabled car, replacing the steering wheel, in order for you to type on your head-up display [army.mil] whilst driving.

    --

  • Umm... Yeah. Sure. The parent post.
  • > The vertical keyboard can't be bought anywhere

    I saw one of these in a computer store four years ago. It had a crank that could be used to ajust it from totally flat to totally vertical.

    A quick scan through dmoz's keyboard list [dmoz.org] returns lots of examples of vertical keyboards. Like this one [fentek-ind.com].

  • That will really be the best shape for a computer keyboard, guitar shape, and you could play some good rock while working too.
  • It looks like Kinesis (makers of the best ergo keyboard on earth) have a new model out similar to this (only much more practical I think). Check out the Kinesis Evolution Keyboard [kinesis-ergo.com]. It can be adjusted to any size/shape person and even has a trackpad (or two) built in.
    -Stype
  • Agreed; even the new IBM "preferred" keyboards are really nice. And pretty cheap, too... the white one is $30. (There's a black version for $50, but as we all know, black hardware performs up to 20% better, so it must be worth it.) Even though the new IBMs are all plastic, they retain a very "solid" feel, and the construction is excellent. There's none of the excessive "key wiggle" present in many modern boards. An IBM boards is really like a tool.

    Sun made nice boards with IBM-style keys (an of course the superior key placement) up until a couple years ago. I believe that Type 5c was the last nice one. The Type 6 has really mushy "quiet"-type keys that provide even less tactile feedback than Dell "softkey" boards. Ew.

    All generalizations are false.

  • Brilliant logic.


    "Homo sum: humani nil a me alienum puto"
    (I am a man: nothing human is alien to me)

  • This will go *so* well with my vertical desk chair!

  • I would buy one of those things. Hold your keyboard up vertically and try it. It's a natural wrist position to have your palms facing each other. What would make this *really* good is if they angled the keys a bit along the y-axis (having the keys perpedicular to you is a little uncomfortable..maybe make this adjustable?) and included some contoured palm rests on the bottom.
  • Maybe if/when IBM makes a split keyboard I'll consider it, but I can't use anything less than an IBM keyboard with those oh-so-wonderful keys. I think I get at least another 20% speed just because of the key feel.

    IBM did make a split, adjustable keyboard. I'm typing on it now. It's Part # 13H6689, the one I'm using was manufactured in September 1995. Standard PS/2, with that great IBM feel, and an adjustable split.

    Might be able to pick up one used. It's substantially relieved my hand pain, when other weirder keyboards (e.g. Kinesis) didn't.
    --

  • I used a flexpro keyboard for years and loved it. One of my coworkers still uses one at his home. I tend to destroy about 2 keyboards a year, and it not only helped my wrists, but it prevented me from pounding on the keyboard.

    It was also really cool for MS-Pinball. =)

  • It comes with RS6K systems

    Indeed. When I left one company a while back that was an AIX shop, I made sure I took with me five keyboards just so I would make sure I had a lifetime supply. :)


    --

  • First of all, the keyboards sold at pckeyboard.com are real IBM keyboards. Recall that IBM spun off IBM Lexington, which made PC hardware like printers and keyboards, as Lexmark about a decade ago. A bit later, Lexmark spun off the keyboard division as Unicomp and focused on printers. pckeyboard.com is Unicomp. Some of the keyboards they sell say "IBM" on them, and some say "Lexmark," which doesn't really matter.

    I've bought two of the "Customizer," which are basically just buckling-spring IBM PS/2 101-key keyboards. They're just about perfect. They weigh about as much as a small truck, have perfect springy tactile feel plus clicky audio feedback, and will probably last until we're no longer using keyboards. (I know a guy who still uses the keyboard from his 1986 IBM AT.)

    The other nice thing about IBM PS/2 keyboards is that they're the de facto reference standard for the PS/2 keyboard interface. Some motherboards (most notoriously early Pentium II boards like the Abit LX6) have twitchy keyboard ports that will only work with some keyboards. If they work with any, they'll work with the IBM.

    The threat that this model will be upgraded to include Win95 keys has been on the site for a couple of years, but they haven't done it yet. If they do, all is not lost: you can still order old IBM keyboards by model number.

    The only things wrong with this keyboard are price ($79; a bit cheaper for the non-clicky ones with not-quite-perfect feel) and noise (my computers are in the basement, and I can hear my wife typing when I'm upstairs in the TV room, through a closed door.)

    Worth the $79? Hell yeah, if you type a lot.

    As far as the company goes, I've ordered twice from them with no problems. Shipping charges were reasonable. Not much of a sample size, I know, but they're legit.
  • Don't these guys realize that when people hold their hands up for a while they get tired?

    Has anyone here ever heard of the light pen for MS-DOS? No? Well, there you have it. Before the time of the squeky thingie (i.e. mouse), there was some PC (I think PC jr, so I guess it was PC-DOS, not MS-DOS) that had support for a light pen pointing device. It flopped. Know why? Because a person's hand gets tired after he/she has to hold it in front of the screen for a while. It's called ergonomics and common sense, folks.

    Also, if you read the comments at the bottom of the page, there are quite a few people claiming that this idea isn't new anyway.
  • Hmmm...yeah, come to think of it, the last drywall job I did I stripped a couple phillips drivers (and an ungodly number of drywall screws - they don't go through 1" hemlock plank too well).

    c.
  • The typing injury FAQ has some of the best alternative keyboards detailed including the Maltron and the Kinesis Ergo which you can completely remap the keys to any custom configuration. Just write a little app that analyzes the frequency of all the keys in a typical week and then remap the keyboard accordingly. Also makes for a good security feature. Nobody can figure out your interface!!

    NotoriousGDD
  • Yeah, the story on DARPA's research into "Starship Troopers" (the book, not the lame movie) style powered armor was also cool. Still some power storage problems...
  • Hmmm... Very interesting idea...

    I didn't find the nipple to be that bad after a month or so of using it. Your idea sounds really good, though. You could even have the "mouse key" be something that would activate when you press your thumb against the side of your finger, so it would really be a pointing action. Maybe some slight modification to avoid RSI, but I imagine it could work well. Of course, it's been far too long since I've touched a real erect nipple, so I'm kinda partial to the IBM approach at the moment.
  • another thing you could do would be make the key halves foldable inward so other people (or non-touch typists) could use the keyboard as a normal one simply by folding them inwards. Also make the width between the keypads adjustable.

  • Re:When can we have... (Score:3)

    by Speare ( 84249 ) on Sunday January 21, 2001 @05:20PM (#492075) Homepage Journal

    How about Braille dots? This should be easier to feel than just the letter-shaped raised ridges, and there's no concave areas to collect spilled/builtup gunk.

    I didn't find any prebuilt braille-dotted keys, but did find these stick-on caps: hooleon.com [hooleon.com]. Incidentally, this company appears to do many weird things with keyboards.

  • Re:A keyboard you can sleep on! (Score:4)

    by the eric conspiracy ( 20178 ) on Sunday January 21, 2001 @03:29PM (#492076)
    Ooh! Ooh!

    No more keyboard-face.

  • I did a similar thing a few years ago, only with a mouse. I was short on desk space, but I had an optical mouse (the original kind), so I taped the mirrored mousepad to one of my desk legs so it was vertical, and I was able to use it nicely that way. It was more novel then, in the days ball mice were popular, than it would be now.

    I was able to play Solitaire for twice as long before my wrist got tired... (:

    These days you could probably pull that stunt with a new optical mouse. They're thicker than the old kind though, those were only about 1/2-3/4 inch tall. That was a factor for me because my desk was close to a wall.

    ---
    Please be gentle, I'm still new at this!

  • Re:Look at the screwdriver! (Score:3)

    by FFFish ( 7567 ) on Sunday January 21, 2001 @05:49PM (#492078) Homepage
    Not a chance. The Robertson screw already rules the intelligent builder's world. Square-head recessed slot, that provides far better torque than hex, plus can't be stripped-out. Three standard sizes, and common as mud... if you're in one of the more advanced sort of civilizations, at any rate.

    Canadian invention, I think. Part of our insidious plan to take over the world, eh? Get with the program already; resistance is futile.

    --
  • Oooh, baby, yah! Talk to me, talk to me!

    I have one of the wing o' deth keyboards. Weighs a frigging metric tonne. Got those sweet, sweet ALPS keys in it... real springs and everything. Built like a freaking brick shithouse. When you put it down, it *stays* put. And clicky! Oh, so clicky!

    I was lucky enough to score a replacement keyboard for free the other day. It's not a steel-plate wing o' deth, but it's got the ALPS keys. I figure I can swap out the guts.

    For others with this sort of fanaticism for great keyboards, this website looks promising: they repair keyboards, and it sure looks like they're using ALPS keyswitches in their custom keyboards. I'm particularly horny for the one with the rubber joystick-mouse on it: [PC Keyboard] [pckeyboard.com].

    If anyone does buy a keyboard from PCKeyboard, how about writing a Slashdot review?

    --
  • The vertical keyboard can't be bought anywhere, it has never gone out of the lab. But if you feel like an ergonomics researcher and want to carry out your own experiment, you can always cut up any horizontal keyboard and try to assemble something better. Any other ideas about this keyboard? Don't forget about the discussion board at the bottom of the page :-)

    Is it even possible to mod it into this configuration at home?

  • Lacking in ergonomics? (Score:4)

    by Grexnix ( 94113 ) on Sunday January 21, 2001 @01:50PM (#492085) Homepage
    When human hands relax, they curve, going eventually into a fist. This keyboard would require the hands to be flat, only rotated through 90 degrees - a posture that I imagine would become quite tiring. If the keyboard halves were curved, so that using it was like putting your hand around the far side of a cylinder, it would probably be a lot more comfortable to use.

    --

  • Re:it isn't available anywhere (Score:3)

    by bgdarnel ( 2144 ) on Sunday January 21, 2001 @06:15PM (#492093) Homepage
    Yes, as seen on /. [thecraftstudio.com] quite a while ago.
  • The picture shows the right side of the keyboard to the left. Now I know why typing was so hard!
  • Your eyes can already pick out a single pixel. At least, *you* know that you're looking at it.
    -russ
  • That exoskeleton's real cool, but after seeing the AVI of it, how does he stop walking? Does it sit back on its hind legs(the endmost leg laying flat) like a dog?

  • Re:Look at the screwdriver! (Score:3)

    by British ( 51765 ) <british1500@gmail.com> on Sunday January 21, 2001 @06:40PM (#492100) Homepage Journal
    I like the screw idea. I remember having 5-sided star(torx?) head bits on my car's bumper. I broke several screw bits trying to unscrew them. After dremeling the heads as to use a normal screwdriver on it(and failing), I eventually had a machine shop extract them and re-thread them so I can use regular bolts.

    I find the keyboard mentioned in the article to be the least interesting of all the gadgets.

  • That's funny. When I tried to learn the guitar, I found myself wishing it was shaped like a keyboard.

  • side mirrors?! (Score:3)

    by JudgePagLIVR ( 145069 ) on Sunday January 21, 2001 @01:57PM (#492104)

    and I quote

    "The users don't see what they are typing, so the keyboard has two fixed side-mirrors."

    Side mirrors? on a keyboard?!

  • This looks like a rather extreme version of the ergonomic keyboards that are split in the center and tilted off to the sides. I'm all for outside-the-box thinking, and I think this is a good exercise, but in the long run, we may be better off with something kinda between a modern ergonomic keyboard and this radical design. Hopefully with a trackball or something in the middle too, because having a mouse that requires taking hands off the keys is a terrible productivity killer. Despite the somewhat small keys, I have never been more productive than on an old thinkpad I once used with the little thing that resembles an erect nipple in the center of the keyboard. I could type and use the mouse without any delay between the two actions. As it stands I have one of those awful trackpads on my current laptop, but it still beats having a separate mouse for most purposes.

  • you can get better from microsoft R&D (Score:4)

    by small_dick ( 127697 ) on Sunday January 21, 2001 @02:08PM (#492110)
    Microsoft's new keyboard [tripod.com] kicks ass.

  • And, as a bonus, this is who to learn to type fast as well. Three rules:

    1. Don't look at your fingers.
    2. Look at the screen, not your fingers.
    3. DAMMIT DON'T LOOK AT YOUR FINGERS, LOOK AT THE SCREEN!!

    Put a box over your hands if you have to, but DON'T LOOK AT YOUR FINGERS. In two weeks, you will be typing twice as fast as you do now.

    Hell, here's another typing tip. I'm convinced this is how to eliminate wrist problems. The typing books always show the wrists turned, and then the hands being perpendicular to the keys. Don't do this. Instead, hold your hands the way you would on a "natural" keyboard where it's split. In other words, keep your wrists totally straight with your hands at about a 30 degree angle to the keys. You can type just as fast, and I'll bet you'll have far fewer carpel tunnel problems. At least, I've never had them and I've been typing really fast for 20 years (on regular keyboards). Your mileage may vary, but it seems like it makes sense.


    --

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