I've been mildly obsessed with the ErgoDox since I learned about it a few days ago. (It will hopefully be on its way soon from Massdrop.) Mostly, I've been playing with layouts. After mocking up a keyboard, I put together something that I haven't seen elsewhere, and while this probably means it is a bad idea, I still thought I'd share.
https://www.massdrop.com/ext/ergodox/?referer=TUHZR6&hash=c8bc2cfbfad1747b980b597cee637a49The good:
I won't need to move my hands at all to ctrl-c, ctrl-v, alt-tab, alt-F4, shift-control-arrow, or any of the other shortcuts that I frequently use. I'll also be able to easily use shortcuts that I don't currently employ because they're hard to get to, like ctrl-alt-tab.
The bad:
I won't have ready access to ctrl, alt, or gui without accessing another layer first.
The ugly:
This design is highly modal, meaning a steep learning curve, especially when the keys will be unlabeled.
Details:
Starting with a Dvorak base, I added thumb layer toggles to move the command keys--ctrl, alt, shift, gui--under the four home keys. The far 2x key leaves the other side at its default settings. Tucking the thumb under the hand toggles the arrow layer (right hand) and Fx keys (left hand), with F1-F5 on the home row. A further thumb tuck will push a ten-key or a Qwerty layer.
The center keys are designed for convenience when I'm not touch typing, but I suspect that won't work too well if/when I add tenting. So I've started laying out one-handed setups, with the idea of ultimately being able to use either side alone as a one-handed chording keyboard. It may be pure fantasy, but the idea of typing with my left hand and writing with a pen in my right hand is quite appealing. Perhaps even adding a Teensy to the left side to be able to use it independently...but one step at a time.
No doubt the ten-key layer will be modified once I start using it with Excel. Anyone know how well the extended number pad keys are supported in calculator applications?
I guess whether it works will depend on my ability to climb the learning curve, as well as how easy it is to use the thumbs for what I have laid out. But I've put together a cheat sheet and the thumb keys seem no more difficult to reach than the alt keys or trackpad buttons on my laptop, so I'm eager to give it a try.
Oh, and I'm not a programmer, so I hardly ever touch some characters they use frequently, which is why they're tucked away in the corners. Also, no media keys are used because I'm mostly in Windows. I'm sure I'll end up attaching some of the extended Fx keys to, say, AutoHotKey.
Many thanks to all those who've made this project happen!