Vertical Keyboard vs Carpal Tunnel

An anonymous reader sent us links to a quite strange vertical keyboard which also links to a study that claims that this is more ergonomic than your usual board. Of course at $347 it also better make me coffee.

Comments

Is it really the keyboard?

[kidlinux]

Is it really the keyboard that causes carpal tunnel syndrome? I've been going with a regular keyboard since my first computer (~10 years), and I'm just fine.
Maybe some people are just more prone to carpal tunnel than others. Maybe it's just really bad typing habits (or not, because I think mine are horrible ;).

Re:Is it really the keyboard?

[gwernol]

I've been at a keyboard since 1978, with no thought about ergonomics until the early 90's after I first noticed problems. So, that was about 14 years with no problems. Now I have no choice but to be careful about my setup, take stretch breaks, etc. which generally keeps things ok

I've been typing since 1981, so not quite as long. But I've had basically no problems in more than 20 years of reasonably heavy keyboard use. Either I'm lucky or its because I've never learnt to touch type. I still do "advanced hunt and peck" which means my hands and wrists are constantly changing positions and don't come under the same sort of repetative strain as a good touch typist's do.

Of course this is a sample size of exactly one, so I don't claim it means anything. But have studies been done to examine a possible correlation between touch typing and RSI/CTS?

Simple engineering

[datastew]

Actually "the turning your wrists sideways to type" thing kind of makes sense in an engineering point of view.

Thinking way back to my statics class, the stress at any point in the beam is inversely proportional to the moment of inertia. Modeling your wrist as a rectangular beam 1" x 2", the moment of inertia is given by the formula
( b * h ^3 ) / 12
So turning your wrist sideways changes the moment of inertia from .1667 inches ^ 4 to .6667 inches ^ 4. With a corresponding decrease in the stress on your wrists.

However the actual stress savings will be less for the following reasons:

1. If your wrists are anything like mine, they are closer to being ellipses than rectangles, and concentrating more mass at the centers means that the turning sideways trick will make a smaller change in the moment of inertia. Also, measuring my wrists more closely, it looks like the values are 1.75" and 2.75". I just didn't want to dig out my calculator.

2. Whichever way you turn your wrists, they still have to handle the forces generated each time you push against a key. Think about "equal and opposite reaction" from one of Newton's laws.

Re:Currently feeling bad about buying a datahand

[jonabbey]

I used a DataHand exclusively at work for over 3 years, after having experienced some RSI issues, and wrote many tens of thousands of lines of code using it.

It turned out that the DataHand didn't do nearly as much for me as getting out and exercising (yoga!) did. The DataHand actually encourages you to _not_ move your hands, which is actually a big negative when it comes to blood circulation issues. As a diabetic, blood circulation is actually a big deal.

The DataHand also proved stressful to my little fingers, which had to do a lot of side-to-side motions that one normally does not encounter.

If you like the DataHand, more power to you, but despite my very extensive experience with it, I am happier with a simple (and reliable) Microsoft Natural keyboard and exercise.

The REAL reason this keyboard works...

[ovit]

Try this:

Relax and stand up; arms down, totally relaxed.

What way do you're hands fall? Palms toward legs... This is the CENTER of the range of movement of you're hand and requires no physical strain to hold this position...

Not being able to put you're elbows down kind of sucks tho...

carpal tunnel...

[gotih]

not this again -- it's been a year or so but a 'this funky keyboard will cure carpal tunnel' article always come up eventually.

Basically, ONE keyboard will never solve your carpal tunnel problems. carpal tunnel is a result of continous stress on specific parts of the wrist. and it is still not completely understood how to prevent it. i found that my moderate to severe wrist pain ceased when i started alternating keyboards. i use two: a regular keyboard and a Kinesis classic. by using these very different keyboards i work different muscles and distribute the stress throughout my hands which (in theory) prevents most harm from occuring.

Kinesis keyboards are sort of expensive but it is by far my favorite keyboard. took about a week to get used to (hint: be lazy, don't reach so far for keys). i got my boss to buy it ($275) for me after some mild whining.

They still have it wrong...

[johnlcallaway]

I'm 5'9" (1.7 m) and 225lbs (100Kg). I've also been touch typing for about 25 years. Now....everyone play along with this and find out where your neutral position is. I'll bet it's probably not the same as mine.

First off, let's assume that the vertical position of your hands is actually better.

Place your hands like the one's in the picture of the Safetype keyboard. Now, when I do this, I feel a pressure in my sholders suggesting that my hands should be closer together ... my arms more like a V than parallel. I measured it, and the most comfortable position is my fingertips about 4 inches (10cm) apart.

Now, look at your hands and wiggle your fingers as if you were typing. When I do this, my fingers are curled and move towards and away from me, not on the side like the Safetype keyboard. Except for my thumb, it moves up and down. Even neater.

So, my 10 minute research suggests that they take their keyboard and rotate it away from the body, and allow the user to control the distance between the two halves. Also, move the space bar, and maybe a few other keys like caps and esc to the top for the thumbs. THAT would be more ergonomic than the contraption they have.

The only drawback I can see, and the Safetype keyboard would have the same problem, is that my hands rest on the outside edges. I would guess that this would be very irritating after awhile.

Can I have my government grant now????

Letters are lined up unsymetrically.

[eugene ts wong]

When people put their hands to the keyboard, they'll find that their fingers are like mirror opposites. Yet the keys line up in one direction. To see what I mean, look at r f v and u j m. f and j are up above v and m, and to the left. I believe that f and j should be up and to the centre. When your hands are on the keyboard, the fingers will naturally reach up to the centre.

This won't help everybody, because many people are happy with their keyboards, but it will help some people. I'm sure that my idea won't hurt anybody. That's for sure.

Better yet...

[Nindalf]

Have your keyboard in the natural ass-scratching position.

(and make one for under $20)