Keyboards

Preface

Whatever texts you compose, it's probably through a keyboard. And while it's the primary way of creating any form of text in digital devices there is not much progress in evolving or optimizing the concept.

The latest addition to systems working with hardware or software keyboards has been "autocorrect" and yes it is, in fact, nice to have but it doesn't change the way you need to press buttons. Because even on modern smartphones, where a keyboard is merely an app that can be updated anytime and has no restrictions on positioning and size of keys, they still stick to the typewriter qwerty layout, which is known for increasing the amount of travel your fingers make to form words only because in typewriters two keys that most often would be used together should not be positioned together since this increases the chance of jamming the write heads together when typing at higher speeds. As these things were carried over from the pre-computer Era and now further to the digital smartphone age it surprised me how only little changes were made and everything possible is done to preserve not needed and even hindering keyboard design aspects so customers who learned to type for their job in special courses for 10 finger typing etc were able to keep their skills and have no need to adapt.

Options

so there are some things that are just like they were 200 years ago, but does it even make a difference? YES, welcome to the rabbit hole of keyboard design.

some Basics:

Keypress feel

switches can vary in travel height ( low Profile, Mechanical switch height ), the force needed to activate (gaming 10g to heavy typer 60g), activation sound ( clicky and non-clicky) and haptic feedback for activation ( a bump you feel when pressing the key below a certain level ).

Keycaps

keycaps are available in different finishes (Gloss, Matte) with labels( backlighting support ) or without and angeled profiles for easier reach of the rows further away.

Keyboard type

there are 60% keyboards which are missing the fn-keys, the 80% or tenkeyless keyboards with the dedicated arrow key block on the right and the full-size keyboards with the num block in the far right.

Software

each keyboard has a microcontroller that interprets each keypress if you choose a customizable one with QMK support you can have additional features including hotkey layers and layer switching.

More

then there are many custom board types like ortholinear key arrangement where the columns are not staggered but are offset vertically for the fingers to travel between them more naturally. and the split boards these are keyboards having 2 parts one for the left hand and one for the right this helps with positioning your arms parallel to your body. Some split keyboards can be tilted for your hands to be in a more sideways position.

also, there is an option for foot pedals for easier modifier reach.

the creation

I went with the Khail Low Profile Haptic feedback switches for silent typing in a small form factor

3D Printed my own keycaps for different color options on the normal keys and the modifiers and a small bump on the home row keys

Designed a 60% keyboard body with the ortholinear key arrangement but as a split board with 2 halves that can be merged with magnets to form a single board, they use a normal 4-pin Aux cable for data transfer and can be attached to a computer on either half with a micro USB cable. this took longer than expected due to prints warping or the components not fitting in the slots.

2 pro-micro boards powered with QMK for easy programming one for each half.

when wiring up the key switches to the PCB each key needs a diode to enable the pressing of multiple keys in a single row at the same time, and then everything will be wired together as a matrix.

After the hardware is done the software can be customized.

as even software keyboard layouts in current operating systems are way too antique to be useful I map the keys to be in a neo2 configuration as default.

Neo2 has the letters used most often in the german language mapped to the home row so finger travel is minimized. It also utilizes layers it has a typing layer then a special character layer for all programming related brackets, dashes, and slashes to be in one place and a single layer just for cursor movement with arrow keys, enter, delete and a Numpad right in the middle of your keyboard.

but I would however need to reach for modifier keys in this board so on the software I added tap and hold keys wich send a letter key when pressed and a modifier when held, for each key on the home row so any hotkey can be pressed with minimal hand and finger travel regardless of how many modifiers it requires. on the additional 3 keys on each half where the space key would be, I mapped space and the layer switching

Conclusion

All in all, this is a very interesting topic and particularly when you want to resolve hand, wrist and shoulder problems caused by typing the whole day this keyboard helped me to remove 80% of the problems I had with posture while typing and as a bonus I can type completely blind on the neo2 keyboard which helps me focus more on the work I'm doing and less on the hardware used. the other 20% just got resolved with me getting a sit-stand desk.