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Hardware

Keyboards for One Hand? 44

Posted by Cliff from the hunt-and-peck-for-cap'n-hook dept.
visibleman asks: "Having recently damaged my right hand to the point where it is unusable for a month and only for light tasks after that I was wondering whether anyone in the community knows of any devices which replace the keyboard but require the use of only one hand. I remember a long time ago seeing in magazines something that had a single button per finger and relied on the user learning key combinations to make up letters but I have not seen this for ages, does anyone know what I am talking about?" Ask Slashdot covered this topic, twice: in this article from 1999 and a followup from 2001. For those readers who find themselves in this same situation, what solutions have you found and what were your experiences, good or bad? Are there any new devices in this vein that deserve mention or are the older solutions still the best?
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Keyboards for One Hand? More

Keyboards for One Hand?

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  • Just type slower (Score:3, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 30, 2003 @06:47PM (#6334777)
    Or jerk off less. Sheesh.

  • I had something like this happen... (Score:3, Funny)

    by revmoo ( 652952 ) <slashdot.meep@ws> on Monday June 30, 2003 @06:50PM (#6334803) Homepage Journal
    I broke my left arm(Again) a couple years back, and I had to wait a couple months until I could get the cast off.

    Being able to use a computer is the LEAST of your worries. I was able to adapt to typing with my right hand about 60% of my previous typing speed in a couple days, it took some doing, but it wasn't that big of a deal. A couple weeks later, I had enough strength in my fingers to use the "WASD" keys on my left hand, so I was able to play First person shooters again with little trouble.

    You only have a month? Just wait it out, it isn't the end of the world.....Why not ask "How do I shower with one hand"....though I guess maybe that hadn't come to mind :)

  • Wow! (Score:3, Funny)

    by sigwinch ( 115375 ) on Monday June 30, 2003 @06:53PM (#6334821) Homepage
    I am successfully resisting the temptation to post a one-handed-typing joke.

    I guess those impulse control classes worked.

  • One-handed keyboard typing (Score:4, Informative)

    by Sabbath.sCm ( 542240 ) on Monday June 30, 2003 @06:55PM (#6334842) Homepage
    About One Hand Typing [aboutonehandtyping.com] I found it interesting even for those who can use both hands (it would be useful for typing and using the mouse at the same time).

  • Hmm. (Score:2, Interesting)

    by smoondog ( 85133 )
    A few years ago, everyone thought these were going to take over the world (at least the media did). The problem with these keyboards is that there isn't really a market for them (outside of accessibility, and that tends to be very specialized with lots of customizations. ie, low volume, very expensive). The keyboard we use is cheap, relatively small, very well adopted, with no clear market leader. And they are only mildly less efficient than other designs. Too bad for us, because competing with that is

  • google (Score:4, Informative)

    by illuvata ( 677144 ) on Monday June 30, 2003 @06:56PM (#6334850)
    lets ask google [google.com], shall we?

    first, we get this site [aboutonehandtyping.com], about typing on a normal keyboard with one hand.

    then this one [abilityhub.com], which shows a few one hand keyboards

    also theres this [edgarmatias.com] kind of academic looking paper about half-QWERTY.

  • HalfKey (Score:3, Informative)

    by FrenZon ( 65408 ) * on Monday June 30, 2003 @06:57PM (#6334858) Homepage
    I had written a small program [halfkey.com] that would let you use a regular QWERTY keyboard efficiently (it uses your existing QWERTY skills) with one hand, but as it was based entirely on someone else's work, when they asked me to, I took it down.

    So instead, try the HalfKeyboard [halfkeyboard.com] on which my work was based. Failing that, I hear good things about the one-handed DVORAK layouts.

  • SOMEONE has to say it (Score:4, Funny)

    by xagon7 ( 530399 ) on Monday June 30, 2003 @06:59PM (#6334880)
    "Having recently damaged my right hand to the point where it is unusable for a month"

    this would be HELL on your sex life if it wern't for this saving grace:

    "and only for light tasks"

  • Twiddler (Score:2, Informative)

    by breaston ( 545036 )
    I think several of the 'wearable computer' labs were using this. Twiddler [handykey.com]

  • one-handed dvorak (Score:3, Informative)

    by oskillator ( 670034 ) on Monday June 30, 2003 @07:01PM (#6334888)
    August Dvorak created a pair of single-handed variants [pcguide.com] of his Dvorak layout, one optimized for the left hand only, one for the right hand only.

    These have the advantage that you don't need to buy new hardware to try them out.

  • Slashdot readers should be aware... (Score:3, Funny)

    by ChrisSontagsAnus ( 685214 ) on Monday June 30, 2003 @07:04PM (#6334906)
    That SCO owns contract rights to all major single-hand typing technologies. The relevance of this technology to our operations should be clear when you consider our sexual frustration level and our community standards for decency.

    Our single-hand typing technologies may be licensed at a reasonable rate for Sun and Microsoft users.

  • Check out Infogrip... (Score:3, Informative)

    by www.whitehouse.org ( 628354 ) on Monday June 30, 2003 @07:06PM (#6334927) Homepage Journal
    You should look into the BAT Personal keyboard. [infogrip.com] They have different models for right and left hands. Fairly easy to use, I was able to type about 40WPM in less than a week on a MEDUSA workstation. I still prefer my Model M at home...
  • i don't know how helpful it would be, but in at least Windows 2000 and Windows XP, two US keyboard mappings are listed that seem applicable: left-handed and right-handed Dvorak.

    i'm sure you could make your own keycaps if you need to, but both mappings seem oriented toward single-handed use.
  • How about the twiddler [handykey.com]? It's chorded... Includes mouse features. A favorite w/ the wearable PC crowd @ MIT...

  • Keyboards for One Hand? (Score:4, Funny)

    by Anonvmous Coward ( 589068 ) on Monday June 30, 2003 @07:30PM (#6335123)
    I had one but I sold it after moving in with my girlfriend.

  • a software partial solution (Score:4, Informative)

    by n9hmg ( 548792 ) <n9hmg@hotm a i l . com> on Monday June 30, 2003 @08:48PM (#6335688) Homepage
    Dasher [cam.ac.uk] lets you soft of "steer a course" through what you want to say, which is pretty handy when you need to create a long stream of text. In the current incarnation, it seems to be lc alphas and the space, only, but to blow out the bulk of your text, and insert punctuation and formatting later, it could be very handy. With use, it learns the statistical distribution of letter order, so that the easiest things to write are things you write a lot... when you pass through a "J", vowels are big and easy to hit, while consonants are tiny little slits. You'll see what I mean when you play with it. I don't use it myself, aside from seeing what it can do so I can help others use it if needed, but it's definitely what I would use if I needed to write a book and had only limited use of my hands.
  • Dvorak, in addition to his two-hand keyboard, also created left and right one-hand keyboards. Most likely, you can just reset your layout in the OS. Might want some keycaps to help you learn it though.
  • You could always try using a one handed dvorak setup. [pcguide.com] Then you don't have to buy any new hardware just rearrange the keys on an old junker keyboard. And if you find you like the layout you can move to the standard Dvorak layout once/if you hand heals. Heck you can even get X keysym files. [mit.edu]
  • http://www.maltron.co.uk/

    We've ordered a few of these for customers and they seemed satisfied.
  • I was just about to submit this to /. since I just broke mr left wrist. Typing this is a bitch. I haven't tried the one-handed keyboards, but I'm becomming fairly profficient with one hand.

  • One-handed Dvorak (Score:4, Informative)

    by zsazsa ( 141679 ) on Tuesday July 01, 2003 @01:32AM (#6337148) Homepage
    No need for a new keyboard - a remap is all you need. The single-handed Dvorak layouts are built into Windows, Linux, and probably OSX. Even though I have the use of both hands, I've considered learning left-handed Dvorak so I don't have to lift my right hand from the mouse.

    From this website about one-handed keyboarding [helpinghandsgroup.org]: In 1945, during World War II, Colonel Robert Allen lost his right arm. Being a writer, he now found typing nearly impossible. He contacted August Dvorak and asked for help. Using his previous research, August developed keyboard layouts for one handed typists. These are known as the Dvorak left hand layout and the Dvorak right hand layout. A few months after using the Dvorak left hand layout, the Colonel was typing over 50 WPM.
  • It is a bit annoying, difficult to type with, and slow.. but it is a neat gadget. Handykey.com
  • One place you could look for are any sites about Wearable Computers. There are a few devices in the field such as the oft mentioned Twiddler.
  • Slightly off-topic, but it seems to me that some kind of chording keyboard would be ideal for tablet computers. The buttons could be built into the places where your fingers of one hand naturally fall when holding it. I'd love to see something like this - all the advantages of a small form-factor, without losing the ability to type.
  • Has anyone tried to program the claw for typing? It's a lot cheaper than BAT.

    http://www.thinkgeek.com/computing/input/gaming/ 58 5b/
  • Not sure where this is available, but Digit Wireless' Fastap Keyboard [digitwireless.com] is the best small hunt-and-peck solution I've ever seen. It's primarily designed for thumb-typing on PDAs and phones. They put convex diamond-shaped letter keys between concave round number keys.
  • I remember a long time ago seeing in magazines something that had a single button per finger and relied on the user learning key combinations to make up letters but I have not seen this for ages, does anyone know what I am talking about?

    You effectively play "chords" (similar to playing a piano) with a limited set of keys.

    And no, I haven't seen one recently!.
  • Would this help you out at all....

    Think geek have done it again....

    An Half Keyboard, for one handed typing.
    http://www.thinkgeek.com/computing/input/ keyboards /5e2b/

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