One handed keyboard thread

[joneslee85]

Alright, this thread is dedicated for one-handed keyboard, this could be the layout, hardware and techniques.

You probably wonder why do we care if you are not disabled user. To me, I believe one-handed keyboard is not just for disabled people, it could help boost up the efficiency when you have to use the mouse and keyboard alot for eg. CAD drawer, playing games + chat at same time, etc.

Should we type keyboard with one-hand only? Youtube search shows ppl with one hand could achieve 85wpm to 140wpm, it's eventually faster than avg speed of 2 hand typist. So what's the secret behind?

Key-times designed a one-handed layout, check out here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEnUI4zkKoo

Do you know any layout or hardware? Post ur here.

[AndrewZorn]

it's eventually faster than avg speed of 2 hand typist.

wow with training you can become faster than average person

[BucklingSpring]

it's eventually faster than avg speed of 2 hand typist

Well... The lady on the video says a single hand with a better layout types faster than half of what can be achieved with two hands on a qwerty.

So imagine what two hands can get if they both work on a better layout?

What about when the other hands is doing something else... Are we still going to have the same speed. Try to draw a nice circle with your left hand while typing with the right hand ;-)

Is it me or we had a similar thread not long ago?

Google Image: "one handed keyboards" and you get a bunch of them

[microsoft windows]

I'll just stick with a Qwerty. It gets the job done fine for me (but I'm by no means an expert typist).

[didjamatic]

Maybe not the fastest solution, but very cool looking.

http://www.frogpad.com/

[AndrewZorn]

Well... The lady on the video says a single hand with a better layout types faster than half of what can be achieved with two hands on a qwerty.

So imagine what two hands can get if they both work on a better layout?

What about when the other hands is doing something else... Are we still going to have the same speed. Try to draw a nice circle with your left hand while typing with the right hand ;-)

Is it me or we had a similar thread not long ago?

Google Image: "one handed keyboards" and you get a bunch of them

i quoted the same thing but deleted my post because i knew there was going to be too much to say to keep me from not raging, so thanks for posting for me

[chimera15]

My one handed qwerty keyboard based on the mini wrist keyboard works fairly well.  The thing that really slows me down is shifting for caps, and exclamation marks like periods and commas, and numbers.  You have to press the shift and num lock twice after you select the right one which is cumbersome.  The keyboard is also missing certain punctuation which is fairly frustrating.

[joneslee85]

My one handed qwerty keyboard based on the mini wrist keyboard works fairly well.  The thing that really slows me down is shifting for caps, and exclamation marks like periods and commas, and numbers.  You have to press the shift and num lock twice after you select the right one which is cumbersome.  The keyboard is also missing certain punctuation which is fairly frustrating.

Show Image

You can assign those on mouse buttons.

[Shawn Stanford]

...I believe one-handed keyboard is not just for disabled people...

Well, my son has recently joined the ranks of the disabled: he suffered a C5 fracture last summer. Without going into unecessary details: at this time has very limited use of his right hand, but pretty much full use of his left hand. So, I'm interested in recommendations and experiences with one-handed keyboards.

[BucklingSpring]

Well, my son has recently joined the ranks of the disabled: he suffered a C5 fracture last summer.

Darn... I'm really sorry Shawn.

As posted, the frogpad is fairly popular.

[microsoft windows]

Maybe not the fastest solution, but very cool looking.

Show Image

http://www.frogpad.com/

AAAH! That thing's scary!

[mmgoose]

there's the half-qwerty keyboard which you probably can simulate using autohotkey.

the one-handed qwerty (as shown in youtube) is OK but inefficient. that's 12 keys for the index; 3 keys for the middle; 3 keys for the ring; and 8 for the pinky. reverse that and it's hella worse for lefties. you'll most likely need stickers.

if you get real frustrated i'd suggest dragon software.

[hyperlinked]

Shawn, I'm sorry to hear about your son's injury. I assume he's fairly young so I hope he has a good chance of recovering some of his functional capacity over time.

If you haven't tried the half-querty setup before, here's a simulator of how it works:
http://matias.ca/halfkeyboard/demo/

[kode]

Ah, yes, broke my left arm 3 days ago, so this thread definitely has some interest to me. Being a southpaw, I'd've been more okay doing without my right arm for four weeks, but what can you do, really...

[mmgoose]

oh. for those who're quite good at using the mouse, you can try windows' on screen keyboard under accessibility.

[didjamatic]

I wish your son well.  He's fortunate to live at a time with so many options for those with disabilities.  With technology, disabilities no longer limit potential like they could have years ago.

A friend of mine does just fine with a full sized Macbook Pro.  I'm not sure if he uses a different keyboard at home but he types faster than many 2 handed people I know.  A motorcycle accident left him disabled years ago, but he has done very well since.  It's not what you have, it's what you do with what you have that makes the difference.  Jeff is on the US Paralympic Archery team.

http://usparalympics.org/multimedia/photo_gallery/139
http://paralympics.teamusa.org/athletes?page=4

[hyperlinked]

How many pounds is the draw resistance on that bow? I've never seen anyone draw a bow like that before. That's remarkable.

[ricercar]

Off initial topic:
When I ran across this article, a competent writer discussing disability in our age, I felt wonder for the first time in ages, still tear up when I read it.

[alexlzl]

If anyone is interested, this Maltron left-handed board is selling on eBay for $99 starting bid plus shipping (last week the starting price was $139 but no bid). Good luck!

Link

[Shawn Stanford]

Yeah, I might go for that; let me ask my son if he's interested.

[chimera15]

There was quite some discussion in my ultra mini hack modification thread of one handed keyboards.

http://geekhack.org/showwiki.php?title=Island:7665

Specificially the Chordite, and even one of the builders joined in the discussion:

http://www.chordite.com/

I showed him the teensy board and he seemed really interested in using it to make one.  I'm curious if he comes up with an adptation for the software as I bought a teensy.  I'm really interested in trying to build one of these.

[DreymaR]

I wrote a script to mirror your keyboard - be it QWERTY or Colemak - for one-handed use. I think it worked great, especially if you need to type one-handed for a short period (arm fracture for instance) as opposed to for life (in which case I'd go for a more specialized solution like Maltron).

It's surprisingly easy to type on a mirrored board; it's as if your finger memory can be mirrored by a single 'switch' in your brain! Typing speeds won't be great but not abysmal either.

I wouldn't use the Space bar for the mirror-state key if it can be helped, since the Space is used so much and a state-switch key gets it's fair share of errors if it has to multitask.

[ricercar]

I bid on the Maltron for future comfort (arthritis in my family, has started in my right hand).

But I'll second Webwit's sentiment. If you already know someone who needs a left hand keyboard now because of disability, I'll stop bidding.

[microsoft windows]

My right hand's pretty beat up (I smashed my fingers a while ago when moving a 100-pound rock). But I can still type with it.

[hyperlinked]

I smashed my fingers a while ago when moving a 100-pound rock

So that's what your ancient PC case is made out of! Real stone-age computing!

[microsoft windows]

That's why they have netbooks.

[ricercar]

Auction ended at my $107 bid for the Lefty Maltron. I'm planning to keep this one well after I'm done playing. However, if someone here ends up with a relative who NEEDS a lefty keyboard, PM me before you pay more than that. Really-really.

[hacfed]

My sympathies to all those who are disabled in some way. I smashed my leg to pieces back in July. However, I count myself fortunate as legs are just for walking but arms are for 'everything'. It really is amazing how much technology can assist us in getting on with our lives.

I've just been giving it some thought and figured that for one-handed text input, surely if there were a T9 predictive text facility for PCs then the learning curve would be greatly flattened. Lo and behold:

http://koti.mbnet.fi/korsu/ft.html

Now, the first problem I can see is that mobile phone numpads go 123\456\789 whereas PC numpads go 789\456\123. The keys would need remapping - but that is a trival task.

Next, a separate numpad will be required for lefties. Again, fairly trivial to buy one.

I guess the only real problem with this solution is finding a mechanical switch numpad? Hope this helps someone. (I'm thinking of Shawn's son here in particular).

[hacfed]

Oh, nevermind the remapping... the screendump is misleading. I just looked at the source and it's handled (as I would've expected, to be fair).

[ricercar]

The Maltron left hand keyboard arrived today. It's not what I expected. I'll post a full assessment/review later this weekend after I have time to play with it and see if my initial impressions are valid.

[Rajagra]

Listen. Can you hear that?
The sound of one hand tapping.

[microsoft windows]

I bet a one-handed keyboard takes some getting used to.

[john_3000]

I should have posted this long ago; I thought first I'd do some more work but never got around to it.

This is a hex file that effects a Chordite on a Teensy board (right click & save it):

     http://chordite.com/series6-Chordite-teensy.hex

I only slightly tested it but it seems to work OK.   All you have to do is hook up some switches.  Of course there's no necessity to use the Chordite hand-held design -- you could make a desk-supported unit, etc.  

Use port B.  The pins are pulled high internally and the switches ground them when pressed

8 July 2010:  I have tested the hex file more thoroughly now and it's OK.  Here are some pictures of a unit made with a teensy board, pieces of corrugated plastic sign board and some coat hanger wire.  The switches are recycled from earlier efforts.  The corrugated plastic makes this unit very light.  It could be prettier.

17 September 2010:  I've finally published complete, step-by-step  instructions for the Teensy Chordite, downloadable at chordite.com

[pkamb]

I'm looking for testers for my one-hand keyboard software, anyone interested? Based on two-hand touch typing muscle memory, which means if you're already a touch typist you'll be able to type -- fast -- with one hand in minutes.

http://www.onehandkeyboard.com

Mac App Store: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/one-hand-keyboard-free-one/id501185004?mt=12


The free trial is pretty fully-featured and doesn't expire, I'd love to get feedback from anyone on GeekHack. It's all in software, which means you can use your favorite hardware keyboard.

[andybryant]

I've been trialling a Gorlo&Todt right-handed one-handed Zeus keyboard for the last few weeks. 

Background: I've got one good right-hand, and a very short left arm - think Thalidomide, but not - and have spent the last 30 years typing with really bad posture on a standard qwerty - so I'm now looking for something to help me sit with better posture.  I tried a Maltron for a few weeks, but could never get the hang of it given the length of time I've spent with a qwerty.  I also experimented with the software half-keyboard solutions, but wasn't impressed.



I wasn't expecting much, but it has actually been quite good.  The arrangement of the most used keys over on the right makes it less necessary to stretch back to the left hand side, and the fact that the letters are in standard qwerty (albeit on a slightly smaller pitch than usual) makes it easy to learn - and quite easy to cover using a single hand.  I just have to re-train myself on the new locations of the escape and tab keys, and to not hit home & end when I'm trying to find page down.

http://www.gorlo-todt.de/kleintastaturen_z.htm

I'm considering getting one with a separate numeric keyboard.

Does anyone else have any experience with these keyboards; or know of any similar alternatives that aren't so eye-wateringly expensive (>€2,000)?

Andy.

[linkz]

Here's a one finger keyboard.