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Show HN: I made a 5-key keyboard

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181–190 of 230 posts

Re: Show HN: I made a 5-key keyboard

#181

wow this is really awesome. Actually was look at creating a novelty device for myself. Steam controllers touchpads, logitech MX's scroll wheel. ps5 haptics. Buttons with a great tactile feeling. If anyone knows community that like building things like this, I couldn't find anything. (mainly because i have no idea if it has a name)

Definitely check out the mechanical keyboards part of Reddit. There are a lot of ordinary keyboards with fancy switches but I’ve enjoyed getting into the ergo layouts like [Soufle]( https://josef-adamcik.cz/electronics/let-me-introduce-you-so... ) which I’m just about to build for myself. The Romac is a numpad version. Same techniques all around. Use a Pro Micro chipset and install the QMK firmware and you’re off.

Seconded, I just finished my first full-size keyboard using QMK (writeup on that coming later) and I love it! I'm typing on it right now, it fits my hands exactly and was LOTS of fun to make.

Re: Show HN: I made a 5-key keyboard

#182

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Shhh, OP might hear you, lol

I HEARD THAT! One coffee mug coming up!

Top rack of the dishwasher only?

I love your dual use chorded keyboard and remote detonator. Please keep creating the craziest stuff possible!

Re: Show HN: I made a 5-key keyboard

#183

Falsehoods programmers believe about hands: - they have 5 fingers Joking aside, that's a really nice project: congratulations!

As a mechanical and ergonomic keyboard aficionado with an immobile right thumb, I agree 100%. Many of the cleverest "ergonomic" keyboards heavily overload the thumbs. This is great for moving stress away from the weak, fragile pinkies but only works for people with two useful thumbs!

Re: Show HN: I made a 5-key keyboard

#185
post #12

Reminds me a bit of this really cool project I saw the other day: https://there.oughta.be/a/macro-keyboard Difference is one is generic for typing anything, and the link there is purpose-built on a per-application basis, but the idea of having a small amount of keys for a precise job is very interesting. (Side note, anyone remember the Optimus Maximus, where each key was an LED screen? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O…

> Reminds me a bit of this really cool project I saw the other day: https://there.oughta.be/a/macro-keyboard I'm in love with this, I have to build it. Thanks for the recommendation! > (Side note, anyone remember the Optimus Maximus, where each key was an LED screen? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optimus_Maximus_keyboard ) Yeah, what happened with that? IIRC it never materialized.

If you like keys being screens, https://www.elgato.com/en/stream-deck is available right now.

Re: Show HN: I made a 5-key keyboard

#186
post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, digits; a thumb is not technically a finger:)

Are you telling me that I have four fingers in English but five Finger in German? I'm confused, but Collins dictionary agrees with you: "Your fingers are the four long thin parts at the end of each hand." https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/finger

  > Are you telling me that I have four fingers in
  > English but five Finger in German?
In some languages, such as Arabic and Hebrew, you have twenty. In these languages the colloquial word used for digit does not distinguish between digits on the hands and digits on the feet.

Re: Show HN: I made a 5-key keyboard

#188
post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you telling me that I have four fingers in English but five Finger in German? I'm confused, but Collins dictionary agrees with you: "Your fingers are the four long thin parts at the end of each hand." https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/finger

Though here is the definition from Merriam-Webster, which I'd consider the standard reference for US English. any of the five terminating members of the hand : a digit of the forelimb especially : one other than the thumb That seems more correct to me because I don't think in normal usage saying that "most people have 10 fingers and 10 toes" would be considered an inaccurate statement. And, if someone said they have…

  > Though here is the definition from Merriam-Webster, which
  > I'd consider the standard reference for US English.
M-W considers itself a "descriptive" dictionary, not a "prescriptive" dictionary. That means that it will tell you what people who use words mean to say, but it will not tell you the actual meaning of the words. Therefore it is absolutely NOT a standard reference for English.

The nuance is sometimes important, M-W was the first dictionary to give "figuratively" as a definition for the word "literally" due to the way some people use the word "literally" online.

Re: Show HN: I made a 5-key keyboard

#190

This is called a chorded keyboard [1]. Like seemingly everything invented in the following 40 years, it was introduced by Douglas Englebart in the Mother of all Demos in 1968. Englebart had a iOS app that allowed you to chord type as well. 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chorded_keyboard

that is fun:

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b9/Septambi...

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