Author Topic: Fitaly layout (one handed)  (Read 4411 times)

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Offline hoggy

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Fitaly layout (one handed)
« on: Sat, 23 October 2010, 15:38:09 »
I found this site on my travels
http://www.fitaly.com/fitaly/fitaly.htm



It's a layout for jabbing with one finger, designed to drastically reduce the amount of finger and hand travel compared to the effort to jab using a qwerty keyboard.  The most popular keys are near the middle and has two space bars.


So having a spare row and column keyboard taking space in a cupboard and feeling the need to experiment...




I've only re-arranged the keys, haven't had the time to reprogram the 'board yet.  I think it's a fair first draft, but it'll be a little while before it can be used in anger.

Any thoughts?
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Offline Rajagra

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Fitaly layout (one handed)
« Reply #1 on: Sat, 23 October 2010, 15:53:38 »
Not a bad idea, but wouldn't a 5x5 layout, with Z just outside of the area, be even better?

Offline hoggy

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Fitaly layout (one handed)
« Reply #2 on: Sat, 23 October 2010, 16:01:58 »
It's a good question...  I just stole the layout, but if I were to go with the 5x5, I'd make the space the centre key and kick out the q as well as the z.
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Offline Rajagra

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Fitaly layout (one handed)
« Reply #3 on: Sat, 23 October 2010, 16:10:50 »
Having read the website, maybe I'm wrong. If you treat space as just another character, and they say it is then by far the most commonly used, you want that near the middle. As you are dealing with 27 characters, you're pretty much forced into a 6x5 grid.

If you allowed the keys to have non-standard widths you could add a 3rd space button between N and E. i.e. 1 1/3 width space, N, 1 1/3 width space, E, 1 1/3 width space. Might work on an on-screen keyboard, not so easy on a physical one though.

Offline ricercar

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Fitaly layout (one handed)
« Reply #4 on: Sat, 23 October 2010, 16:12:12 »
My firm muscle memory for the layouts with which I am trained pretty much obviates the need to rearrange keys. My Maltrons have been nearly untested because they also have a non-QWERTY, non-Dvorak, non-Colmak layout. Unless I lose a finger or hand, I can`t see the upside of investing in yet another layout that`s not found off my workbench.



This may be optimized for single-hand use, but I'd think there'd be more payoff in a QWERTY layout in this physical configuration.
« Last Edit: Sat, 23 October 2010, 16:22:20 by ricercar »
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Offline hoggy

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Fitaly layout (one handed)
« Reply #5 on: Sat, 23 October 2010, 16:18:17 »
Quote from: ricercar;237731
My firm muscle memory for the layouts with which I am trained pretty much obviates the need to rearrange keys. My Maltrons have been nearly untested because they also have a non-QWERTY, non-Dvorak, non-Colmak layout. Unless I lose a finger or hand, I can`t see the upside of investing in yet another layout that`s not found off my hobby bench.

I tried the Maltron layout a few years back - made the fatal mistake of learning and trying to work when in pain and already pretty stressed...  I loved the fact the letter E was on the left thumb, but it took almost a month to get used to it.   Had to go back to qwerty for a while, but it persuaded me to move to another layout (dvorak) a few months later.

Edit: I was referring to the two handed layout rather than the one handed - haven't tried one of those yet.
« Last Edit: Sat, 23 October 2010, 16:21:05 by hoggy »
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Offline hoggy

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Fitaly layout (one handed)
« Reply #6 on: Sat, 23 October 2010, 16:23:50 »
As for the need, well it's more of a toy really...
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Offline ricercar

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Fitaly layout (one handed)
« Reply #7 on: Sat, 23 October 2010, 16:24:12 »
Ah, yes, the two-hand Maltrons. I would love to play with an Executive Maltron. I'd trade my 1-hander for a 2-hander in a heartbeat.
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Offline celery

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Fitaly layout (one handed)
« Reply #8 on: Sat, 23 October 2010, 18:03:57 »
This would be really nice for those on-screen keyboards that are manipulated with cursor keys (*cough* video game consoles *cough*).