Slashdot Mirror
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.
...if you can't spill coffee on the important bits.
Every cloud has a silver lining (except for the mushroom shaped ones, which have a lining of Iridium & Strontium 90)
For that much it should read my mind and type for me.
Hacker Media
"So Unique this was awarded US Patent..."
They also awarded patents on how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and how to exercise a cat. What's your point?
Holy s-, it's Jesus!
the Alternative Keyboard FAQ is here and has information about other kinds of keyboards.
also some news articles...
CU study: Vertical split keyboard lowers the injury risk for typists
Vertical Keyboard: the "Touch Easy."
I can't seem to load it, but the "major university" seems like it may be Cornell... the link I can't load is labelled cornell.html anyway.
It must be this study
Remove the following keys:
Windows
Windows (on the other side)
Thing Next To Windows with the Arrow and menu thing(same side as above)
PrtScn
ScrLk
Pause
Home
End
Delete
Page Up
Page Down
Insert
UP arrow (But what about games??? you cry. Ever heard of WASD?)
DOWN arrow
LEFT arrow
RIGHT arrow
The whole friggin numeric keypad (this allows space for your mouse so you arm is not bent all over the side of your desk)
Finally, switch escape with caps lock (for all you friendly vi users), and optionally remove the function keys. Surprise! You now have a typewriter with shift, control, and alt. That's all ya need folks!The best part is...you can still use emacs! If you really need a numeric keyboard, you should be able to buy it separately.
Got friends?
It was Cornell. Certainly not Podunk College.
I'm usually a bit wary whenever someone claims that a study (at a named university or not) "proves" anything. The scientific method doesn't prove things, it is used to test to see if things aren't likely.
Marketing people should be tortured.
If you watch their little video, they talk about some positions that normal keyboards force your hands to be in. It's those positions that cause all of the problems that are associated with typing. Their keyboard purports to remove the problems by putting your hands in a more natural and neutral position.
A little over a year ago, slashdot posted an article about the Evolution Keyboard, now by Kinesis. I have had one of those for several years, and would recommend that anyone interested in the SafeType keyboard also check out the Evolution keyboard. (You can the review I posted to slashdot here.)
The SafeType keyboard is fixed in position, and they consider that to be one of its major features. While I can see that preventing users from futzing with the keyboard keeps them from moving it to a position where it can hurt them, I happen to really like the ability of the Evolution keyboard to move to whatever position I like. In fact, I can make it go completely vertical if I want, gaining all the advantages of the SafeType keyboard. I can even drop it to the sides of my chair, removing even one more "unnatural" position of my arms.
To me, having lots of choices in how I configure my work space is a good thing. And having a keyboard that fits this mindset is one of the most important parts.
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.
... my arms more like a V than parallel. I measured it, and the most comfortable position is my fingertips about 4 inches (10cm) apart.
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
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????
I rarely read replies, it's my opinion and if you thought about your opinion a little more, I'm OK with that.