dana@gmu90x.UUCP (J Dana Eckart) (11/02/88)
Some number of years ago (8?) I remember seeing an announcement for a keyboard that consisted of two separate hemi-spherical parts, one for the left hand and one for the right. The idea seemed to be that the shape was a better fit for the human hand. In addition, you could move the two pieces apart, allowing work to be placed directly in front of you rather than off to the side. Does anyone remember something fitting this description? Are keyboards like this still around? What was the final verdict? Better than conventional keyboards? Worse? J Dana Eckart UUCP: ...!(gatech | pyrdc)!gmu90x!dana ...!uunet!pyrdc!nowhere!dana INTERNET: dana@gmu90x.gmu.edu SNAIL: P.O. Box 236/Fairfax, VA 22030-0236
clark@sssinc.COM (G. Clark Brown) (11/02/88)
In article <1553@gmu90x.UUCP>, dana@gmu90x.UUCP (J Dana Eckart) writes: > Some number of years ago (8?) I remember seeing an announcement for a > keyboard that consisted of two separate hemi-spherical parts, one for > the left hand and one for the right. The idea seemed to be that the ... > Does anyone remember something fitting this description? Are keyboards > like this still around? What was the final verdict? Better than > conventional keyboards? Worse? I saw a keyboard made for one hand called the "One-hander", I think. It was a sphere with four thumb keys and two rows of four keys for the fingers. It could generate the range of ascii by pressing more than one key at a time. I haven't seen anything about it in a long time. Clark
jafischer@spurge.waterloo.edu (Jonathan A. Fischer) (11/04/88)
In article <1553@gmu90x.UUCP> dana@gmu90x.UUCP (J Dana Eckart) writes: > >Some number of years ago (8?) I remember seeing an announcement for a >keyboard that consisted of two separate hemi-spherical parts, one for >the left hand and one for the right. The idea seemed to be that the >shape was a better fit for the human hand. The TRON project in Japan has specified this (or a similar) keyboard as the standard for all TRON systems. Interesting concept, and it may well succeed in Japan, but I couldn't see this new keyboard concept ever gaining foot in North America. Unless perhaps it was pushed on unsuspecting young'uns in public school... I second the request for info on how to obtain one of these things, though. I'd love to try it out. -- -Jonathan Fischer Mr. Walkman
dieter@nmt.edu (The Demented Teddy Bear) (11/04/88)
In article <272@sssinc.COM>, clark@sssinc (G. Clark Brown) writes: >In article <1553@gmu90x.UUCP>, dana@gmu90x.UUCP (J Dana Eckart) writes: >> Some number of years ago (8?) I remember seeing an announcement for a >> keyboard that consisted of two separate hemi-spherical parts, one for >> the left hand and one for the right. The idea seemed to be that the > >I saw a keyboard made for one hand called the "One-hander", I think. It >was a sphere with four thumb keys and two rows of four keys for the fingers. Buried deep in my files somewhere, I have a photocopy from an issue of Interface Age (may have been Byte, but I don't think so) describing the "Write-Hander". This is similar to the above, except that each finger had one switch, corresponding to one of the four lower bits in the ASCII sequence. The thumb had two circular rows of four switches each, covering the remaining three bits of the ASCII code. If you're really interested, I can go searching for the article. It was a do-it-yourself sort of thing, so it has all the information you need (modulo the photocopier problems; there was a coloured table which doesn't come out real well). A quick synopsis: get a rubber ball that comfortably fits your hand. Cut it in half. Insert all the above-mentioned switches into the hemi- sphere you decide to use, trying to place them comfortably. Switches with short bodies work best, as you don't want them all hitting in the center of the ball. Get a key debouncing chip (can't remember the number, but there are several TTL types out there), run its output into a latch, and voila'! A Write- (or Left-) Hander. You'll probably need to come up with some logic to detect when any of the thumb switches have been pressed, to provide a character-ready strobe to the latch. Most parallel keyboards also provide a similar signal on the output, so using an eight-bit, resettable latch with the MSB tied high would be a good idea. When the receiving end reads from this beast, it should send you a read strobe, which (after a small delay), should clear the latch. Have fun. Dieter -- Welcome to the island. You are number six. ...cmcl2!lanl!unm-la!unmvax!nmtsun!dieter dieter%nmt@relay.cs.net dieter@jupiter.nmt.edu
jack@cwi.nl (Jack Jansen) (11/07/88)
I think that you're referring to the Velotype keyboard. It is a symmetrical keyboard with the keys in 'comfortable' places (i.e. if you nonchalantly put your two hands on it you will hit all keys at once). As far as I remember Velotype was developed by a Dutch firm, but I don't remember which. I remember seeing ads for two models, one to replace a PC keyboard and one for use with a VT100. There was a demonstration on TV once where they subtitled the whole news *in real time*. Truly impressive. I'm not too sure of the principles involved, but I think that the idea was that you typed chords of letters, and that the keyboard knew something of language so that it would be able to order the characters in the right order. Moreover, combinations that were frequently used were conveniently located with respect to one another (like on the dvorak keyboard). Unfortunately, the whole thing was a failure for non-technical reasons. At first, no velo-typists were available, so they weren't bought. Then, when some employment agencies started teaching velotypists, offices still wouldn't buy them, because only a very small percentage of the typists would be able to use them. So, the velotypists got out of training, and we're back at the beginning of the story again. Note that all this is just from memory of reading things in the papers with only a slight interest in the matter, so most of it is probably untrue:-) -- Fight war, not wars | Jack Jansen, jack@cwi.nl Destroy power, not people! -- Crass | (or mcvax!jack)
bill@bilver.UUCP (Bill Vermillion) (11/07/88)
In article <9487@watdragon.waterloo.edu> jafischer@spurge.waterloo.edu (Jonathan A. Fischer) writes: >In article <1553@gmu90x.UUCP> dana@gmu90x.UUCP (J Dana Eckart) writes: >> >>Some number of years ago (8?) I remember seeing an announcement for a >>keyboard that consisted of two separate hemi-spherical parts, one for >>the left hand and one for the right. The idea seemed to be that the >>shape was a better fit for the human hand. Several years ago - probably in the '78 to '80 time frame there was an article, and my rusty memory thinks that it was in Interface Age, about a SINGLE hemispherical input device. The reason for 1 is the same as that of the mouse today. But the buttons were distributed in such a way that you did very little finger movement. It was combinations of keys that produced each letter, instead of 1 key 1 symbol and a standard keyboard, or 2 keys 1 symbol in shifted mode or control key mode. The device was on the cover of the magazine, and was red. If not Interface Age, it may have been Byte, Rom, or one of the other early computer mags. -- Bill Vermillion - UUCP: {uiucuxc,hoptoad,petsd}!peora!rtmvax!bilver!bill : bill@bilver.UUCP