Flipped/Inverted Keys

[Suppo]

Hey all, firstly I'll apologise if this is in the wrong section of the forum, but I'm not sure where else this would be well suited.

When I first saw inverted spacebars, I thought it was a joke, seeing many of the initial commenters mocking it. I myself first handedly tried it myself and thought that it was an instantaneous improvement.

But what about other keys?

Everyone obviously has different/unique typing techniques and have different hand shapes and sizes, as well as their own keyboard layout preferences (feet, no feet, wrist rests ect.), which undoubtedly affect typing speed.

As I'm still learning the Poker II layout (I'm still not comfortable with Calculator and directional keys yet, which to me, is a huge upset when writing reports), and I've decided to invert a few other keys.

Keys I'd initially thought of inverting:
Spacebar
Backspace
Left Ctrl
Right Fn
Caps Lock (which is remapped as an alternative [Fn] key)
Left Shift

Initially extremely awkward, but ended up unflipping the [Left Shift] key, everything else aforementioned remains flipped. This resulted in almost instantaneous, slightly biased, 10FastFingers results. Firstly, when I use this site, I'll [Refresh] the test upon either: 2 simultaneously incorrect words, any 'serious' fumble, loss in momentum or anything that I feel won't net me a 110+ score. Essentially, it'll be 1/10 tests that I'll let submit. With that in mind, there's been a 5 - 6% (115+ and breaking 120 on occasions, NOTE: It's only been in the past 2 weeks that I've managed to hit triple digits more consistently let alone 120+) increase in score with a flipped [Backspace], [Spacebar], [Left Ctrl], [Caps Lock]. This is on a Poker II with Cherry MX Brown Switches.

With that in mind, I thought I'd try a similar setup on my Ducky Zero DK2108 with Cherry MX Red Switches. Initially, I stumbled without the lack of Tactile Feedback, but eventually gained momentum before settling on an average of 110.

So, Geekhackers, have any of you considered alternative keycap profile setups in order to improve your typing? I'm really curious to hear other's stories as I'm always looking towards improving on my scores on 10FF (which I know is a bad indicator of 'actual' typing, but I like points and stuff, yo).

I'll also be receiving some O Rings in the mail soon (hopefully) in hopes to further increase my scores!

[azhdar]

Used to have Fn flipped on my poker along with the spacebar.

[jacobolus]

Could you make a video showing your keyboard with all the flipped keys, and showing yourself typing on it?

[Suppo]

Just got back from Uni and just done the video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sL9yG4BpouE

[jacobolus]

For whatever reason, the forum software here requires http (not https) links for embedded youtube videos:

[jacobolus]

Anyway, I doubt it makes too much difference to invert backspace, as on the most common keycap profiles those are basically flat across the top. Do you use caps lock or left ctrl when typing? I doubt those have any particular impact on typing speed. So the main thing here to think about is the spacebar.

I can’t see your full hands/wrists in the video, but it looks like your fingers are pretty far extended at the joint at the base of each finger, even a little bit past straight. This is kind of interesting to me, as for me extending that joint past straight is a fair amount of strain, and at maximum extension I get maybe 10° past straight. Most people I’ve seen typing have those joints flexed maybe 5–15°.

It looks like your palms/wrists are somewhat resting on some surface, and you might have a fairly sharply extended wrist. Regardless of typing style, I’d highly recommend trying to keep the wrists as neutral as possible, as the further the wrists get from neutral, the less agile the fingers get, and the easier it gets to develop repetitive strain injuries. I’d recommend trying to hold your palms/wrists up off of any surface (have them “floating” in the air) while typing for any extended period of time. You can set them back down when taking a break from typing.

The standard spacebar profile basically doesn't make sense in any circumstance, and is IMO a design mistake first made by people who didn’t really think about what they were doing, and then just copied over and over. The angle of a flipped spacebar makes a lot more sense than the standard spacebar angle when hands are being rested on the table or a wristrest, IMO, but I don’t think people should do that. With proper typing style, I personally think a spacebar angle that is approximately flat is better.

Has anyone here ever tried using an SA-profile spacebar along with a standard cylindrical profile keycap set?

[Suppo]

I don't think I have a high enough post count to embed a Youtube video.

I use Left Ctrl for Ctrl+A in 10FF, but as well as many other applications. It's also extremely useful for web browsing (Tabs, Ctrl+C, Ctrl+V). Capslock is purely for directional keys only (WASD) as I was really fond of using Arrow keys prior, I use it quite a bit when browsing.

I can actually type with 'floating hands' as well and now that you mention it, it's usually levered up by my forearm(?) just after the elbow and the only other muscles I incorporate are my wrist muscles to keep them rigid. I'll have to keep this in mind though, this is by far more comfortable.

I think that the spacebar could probably do with just being 'lower' or even concaved.

[jacobolus]

I think Matias’s new ErgoPro spacebar is a pretty good shape:

[Suppo]

Heh, just knowing how I type, I won't be able to ever type on an ErgoDox-esque keyboard. I try so hard to keep the majority of my hands somewhat in the same position, but my right hand wants to always just lift off and do its own thing.

I blame StarCraft.

[MajorMajor]

I flipped my space bar this week, what an incredible difference! I don't use the left alt all that often, but I think that would be a great one to flip as well.