Unlike my personal website where I publish pages that are really in progress — with TODOs floating around, fragmentary thoughts, and much unpolish — any given in progress page on this ministry website is really only in progress insofar as I have not finished writing all the content that I expect to be eventually located on the page. That is to say, everything that is published on the page is already complete, edited, and checked-over for accuracy and correctness, but there is still more planned writing on the page to be completed.
I'm an outliner when I write, so how this plays out in practice is that I will fill in the outline skeleton (as displayed in the table of contents) with content over time, until the whole page is eventually complete.
Good Options
TODO : Complete Outline
Optimization Considerations
- Differences in Hand Morphology
- Differences in Optimization Goals (speed vs ergonomics)
Physical Layout Design Variables
- Why Physical Layout Design Must Come Before Character Design
- Design Philosophy: Everything is a Variable
Comfort/Ergonomics
- Split-Hand Design
- Columnar Key Layout
- Adjustable Wrist Pronation (“Roll”)
- Adjustable Elbow Angle (“Yaw”)
- Adjustable Typing Angle (“Pitch”)
- Neutral-Position Wrist Wrests
- Column Stagger
- Key Height Differentials
- Concave Keywells
- Keyswitch Actuation Force
- Keyswitch Travel Distance
- Keycap Shaping
Typing Speed
- Concave Keywells
- Keyswitch Actuation Force
- Keyswitch Travel Distance
- Keycap Shaping
Portability
- Wired/Wireless/Bluetooth Capability
- Combination Mechanism
- Combined Keyboard Fragility
- Combined Keyboard Length
- Combined Keyboard Width
- Combined Keyboard Height
- Combined Keyboard Weight
- Traction On Different Surfaces
Durability/Ease of Maintenance
- Keycap Material
- Case Material
- Key Grid Construction (Hand-Wired vs. PCB)
- Keyswitch Stem Type
- Replaceable Connection Mechanism Between Keyboard Halves
- Replaceable Connection Mechanism To Computer
Functionality
- Keyboard Microcontroller and Firmware
- Key Backlighting and Light Programmability
- Signalling Mechanism For Mode Lock Engagement (e.g., CapsLock, NumLock)
- Toggleable Noise For Key Actuation
Weighting of Physical Layout Design Factors
- Identifying Which Factor Group Is Most Important For You
- Portability: The Relationship Between Familiarity And Speed
TODO : My Pick
Bluetooth: http://handheldsci.com/kb
- LED power consumption (should stay under 200mA): https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=75611.0
Kailh Silvers with trimmed Gateron white springs (~25g actuation force, short distance to actuation, long distance to bottom out).
Stainless plates, with midsection for durability
https://www.amazon.com/Flyboys-Mapstrap/dp/B01DAMTSX4/ (Leg straps: will need attachment on back of case. Stable? Shift when standing?).
LED backlight on F-key row
- For instant layer identification in peripheral/at a glance, allow maximum shinethrough https://www.amazon.com/X-keys-Single-Transparent-Keycaps-pk-10/dp/B00FYO8EDC/
Other keys: PimpMyKeyboard flat keys for 1u
- No backlight on these: don’t want to work totally in dark, so backlight only useful for layer indication (waste of money/energy otherwise).
- https://www.quora.com/Is-working-at-a-computer-in-the-dark-bad-for-your-eyes
Two 1.5u keys from https://www.shapeways.com/product/CH2JJBLWM/1-x-150?optionId=27111245 for main thumb keys.
Match colors to home positions (black everywhere but home position, white home position; however, clear F-keys, as mentioned above).