geekhack Community > Ergonomics

A 3-dimensional keyboard design

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TheSoulhunter:

--- Quote from: tintis on Sat, 25 October 2025, 06:27:44 ---...and a clay model of the board shape.

--- End quote ---

Done that as well...
Works like a charm to work out the right position!

Adrian Hale:
That’s a really interesting concept. A 3D keyboard where a single finger can activate three different keys could open up a lot of possibilities for compact input devices, VR/AR typing, or accessibility tools.

I do wonder how practical it is in real use — the learning curve, whether accidental inputs become a problem, and how fast someone could type once they get used to the depth-based key layout.

If you have the full paper or diagrams, it would be great to see how they solved the sensing and separation of the three input levels.

AllenPage11:
This is a fascinating direction for ergonomic design. A true 3 dimensional key layout could address some of the limitations of standard flat or even tented keyboards. I’m especially interested in how the curvature and height variations are determined are they based on natural finger arcs or purely experimental? If you have renders, measurements, or an early prototype, I’d love to see more. This concept definitely has potential.

nescio:
A generalization of this would be to let a neural network or other kind of statistical model figure out what you meant to type based on movement and disambiguation based on the surrounding text. That way it would be possible to not even need a keyboard anymore. Still, just thinking about the words your want to type should be enough, since your "inner voice" is a signal and any signal can be decoded.

I think if you combine all the latest technology together typing is already obsolete (think rack of  datacenter class GPUs with $100K of sensors ). It's very unlikely that keyboards will exist another 25 years as a mainstream product. Meta presented a precursor version of a limited version of that last year. (Execution and providing the funds to move the needle are to be commended, IMO.)

HenryJames:
I agree. As technology improves at understanding intent and signals, typing will likely become unnecessary. Keyboards may stick around for a while, but they probably won’t be mainstream in the long run.

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