Ergonomic, split and other weird keyboards
Posts must be of/about keyboards that have a clear delineation between the left and right halves of the keyboard, column stagger, or both. This includes one-handed (one half doesn't exist, what clearer delineation is that!?)
i.e. no regular non-split¹ row-stagger and no non-split¹ ortholinear²
¹ split meaning a separation of the halves, whether fixed in place or entirely separate, both are fine.
² ortholinear meaning keys layed out in a grid
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It's not done yet, but I figured I'd show off a little bit since I have been using this for a few weeks now. This is the "swirl". It's heavily inspired by the helix with some notable changes:
I've been converted to the ortholinear layout since my EOTW Preonic, now I have that plus a Planck and a second hand Drop Preonic - but I'm interested in going to a split kb next.
This looks awesome, but may I ask - what function does the dual rollers serve? I get rotary encoders mapping to volume, but I don't know what two would be used for.
I use one for volume and one for scrolling right now.
what kind of key switches ?
Choc red pro's, for now
Looks awesome! Why use two boards and the trrs cable? Couldn't you use one board and the cable? Or can each of the two halves be used independently of one another?
I have a larger build and nailing down the ergonomics is really hard without a split board.
I could use a unibody split but this is just easier to adjust and travel with this way.
I could also use either half independently. (with a quick firmware change on the right, but still)
Because this allows you to keep the halves further apart, which is considered more ergonomical.
Typically, each half can, in fact, be used independently (they each have their own microcontroller).
why cords? why not two separate wireless devices?
Because then things like holding shift on one half and a letter on the other wouldn't work.
if those issues could be solved by software drivers would the cord free aesthetic be preferred?
In a perfect world, yeah totally. I could use controllers that are approximately twice the price (nice!nanos) and have to rewrite the firmware (qmk -> zmk) and deal with Bluetooth, or I could just use wires and have it "just work™". I personally prefer this, but tons of people go the wireless route.