![]() Which makes sense if your goal is to optimize ergonomics as much as possible. Many people redesign their layouts completely, using Dvorak, Colemak, or other non-QWERTY layouts. I found this to be essential if I wanted to switch between my custom layout and a standard keyboard. Keeping that in mind, these were the design constraints I used for my keyboard layout: Avoid relocating keys whenever possible # This doesn't seem to be a problem for some people, but for me, I noticed that I made a lot of mistakes reaching for the wrong keys when I switched between these different layouts. Basically, I want to be able to switch between my 36-key custom keyboard and my normal laptop keyboard without issue. However, they didn't fit my particular needs, so I wanted to design something from scratch. Many people have found success with variations of the layouts described above. (You can get an overview of how to use QMK in my previous article.) My design constraints # A popular open source keyboard firmware project is QMK, which allows you to program layers, combos, and many more features that enable you to map all the keys necessary to a 36-key custom keyboard. In order to build these types of layouts, you'll need to program your own keyboard firmware. Also, pressing combos can be tiring if you happen to use heavy key switches. This provides a lot of interesting opportunities however, there can be timing issues similar to home row mods. For example, pressing S and D simultaneously will trigger a Backspace, pressing J and K together will trigger a colon, etc. Instead of using many different layers, this layout uses combo keys to activate different symbols. This is the default layout of the GergoPlex keyboard, described in detail here. ![]() This article goes over home row mods and the necessary tweaks to make it work well in meticulous detail.Īnother alternative to managing the available keys is to use combos: In practice, it'll take some tweaking to get it to work well, as there can be timing issues where sometimes you want the modifier to activate, sometimes you want the letter to activate. This definitely makes sense in theory, as your fingers are always on the home row. If you tap it instead, the letter T will output instead. For example, if you hold down the T key, it will work as the Shift modifier. Furthermore, the Miryoku layout uses home row mods - the Super, Alt, Ctrl, and Shift keys are on the home row instead of the thumb keys. That looks intense! Each thumb key activates a different layer for a total of 6 layers, so there's a lot to get used to. If you're looking for a 36-key custom keyboard layout, a commonly recommended one that I've come across is the Miryoku layout: However, it is possible to design a layout that minimizes this learning curve by following a set of principles, which we'll look into next. This does require you to memorize a whole set of inputs and potentially relearn years of muscle memory. In same way you can hold the Shift key to access special keys keys like !, #, etc., you can create custom layers to access those missing keys. So what happens to all the keys that you lose with these smaller keyboards? The answer is to use custom keyboard firmware with layers. (You can of course design a keyboard with even fewer keys, but I would argue 36 keys is about the limit for a normal typing experience using the English alphabet.) This is why many ergonomic keyboards are designed with fewer keys, from the 48-key ortholinear Planck, to the 42-key split columnar Corne, to the 36-key split columnar GergoPlex. Your mileage may vary depending on how long your fingers are, but there certainly a surprising number of important keys that require a significant stretch. Here's the layout of a typical 78-key Mac keyboard, with the home row highlighted in green and all the keys that can take you off the home row highlighted in red: Even the number row can be hard to reach for people with smaller hands. Yet there are many keys that force your hand to move off the home row. If you've ever tried to learn touch typing, then you were taught the importance of keeping your fingers on the home row. However, there are valid arguments to be made for reducing the number of keys on a standard keyboard. ![]() Once you get into the world of custom mechanical keyboards, then you'll eventually run into keyboards with what looks like an impossibly small number of keys:Įrgonomic keyboard collection by u/chamzter22 from r/ErgoMechKeyboardsĪt first it may seem there is no good reason to build a keyboard like this, other than for aesthetic purposes or bragging rights. GergoPlex keyboard by g Heavy Industries Background # Designing a 36-key custom keyboard layout
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