macOS has built in head tracking & control with expressions or additional hardware switches
Hands-Free Coding (2020)
31–40 of 60 posts
Re: Hands-Free Coding (2020)
#32I'm not a doctor, but I'm skeptical that the author has/had Cubital Tunnel Syndrome. Similar to Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, it isn't a condition that significantly improves, much less resolves with rest. Both conditions warrant surgery to remove the nerve compression. I would guess that the author has relapsed by now, unless he made a lifestyle change not mentioned in the article (e.g. more ergonomic desktop, or started…
Even if you were a doctor, making a diagnosis upon reading a post is not good practice. It is easy to find subjects who did nothing else but the suspected activity develop RSI, so it is a weird claim to suspect it might not exist. For computers in particular, the "emacs pinky" is common knowledge, unless you'd think people suffer from collective hallucination (maybe a side-effect of emacs?). It is definitely a condit…
> For computers in particular, the "emacs pinky" is common knowledge, unless you'd think people suffer from collective hallucination (maybe a side-effect of emacs?)
I really like the name, considering emacs as "Escame Meta Alt Control Shift" abbreviation. All of that keys typically pressed by pinky.
Re: Hands-Free Coding (2020)
#33As someone who may slowly be working his way toward RSI, I'd like to try to mitigate it before I get to the point of the author.
To that end, I'd like to try to build a maximally ergonomic setup (for the back and neck in addition to the hands) that doesn't necessarily have to conform to the standard chair+desk setup (e.g. a custom setup where one lies on their back with their monitor suspended above their face and their hands lying to their sides with a split keyboard).
In order to do that, I need the principles of ergonomics for the hands/wrists/arms, neck, and back - something that's been very challenging to find on the internet, as most of my search results are either trivial knowledge, blogspam, or just regurgitate the standard advice about various joints being at right angles without revealing the principles that drive that advice.
Where can I find those principles?
Re: Hands-Free Coding (2020)
#34As someone with RSI who writes code using speech recognition, before copilot, something like Talon was a pretty good solution. Awkward, kinda rough on the throat, not something you would use in the long term but better than the other options. I've always thought that a editor based on the abstract syntax tree in the language was a far better solution but that's a hard to solve problem and needs to be redone with ever…
> It is usually not worth the hassle to build special macros for editor specific navigation.
Why not? Wouldn't macros be more useful to customize your editing experience now that you use speech recognition, given that it's pretty unusual? In general, I'd expect customizations to have more value for people who use tools/languages in an abnormal way, not less.
Re: Hands-Free Coding (2020)
#35As someone who may slowly be working his way toward RSI, I'd like to try to mitigate it before I get to the point of the author. To that end, I'd like to try to build a maximally ergonomic setup (for the back and neck in addition to the hands) that doesn't necessarily have to conform to the standard chair+desk setup (e.g. a custom setup where one lies on their back with their monitor suspended above their face and th…
My understanding is that any position for too long becomes un-ergonomic, and really our bodies crave variability. I do my most productive coding on my couch in a weird slouching position, but I try not to do it for too long. I'll frequently switch back to my desk, and then try and take as many calls as possibly walking around the neighborhood. I can't focus on code at a standing desk or sitting on a yoga ball or whatever other people prescribe, but if you can throw that into your mix go for it, but sitting on a yoga ball all day is probably as deleterious as doing anything else all day.
There are definitely different ways to use your body with different effects, but I think the problem is over use of any specific form.
Re: Hands-Free Coding (2020)
#36I feel the nerve related situation is getting worse because of tiny modern keyboards which focus on aesthetics and sound.
I have noticed split keyboard users in my office have better posture throughout the day whereas those tiny mechanical keyboard users droop their shoulders close and end up sliding down the chair putting their spine in a very awkward position promoting more severe medical conditions.
It could be just that split keyboard users care more about their posture but from my observation it seems everyone starts with a good posture in the morning but tiny keyboard users end up with a very bad posture within a few hours.
Would be interesting to know what others are seeing
Re: Hands-Free Coding (2020)
#37As someone who may slowly be working his way toward RSI, I'd like to try to mitigate it before I get to the point of the author. To that end, I'd like to try to build a maximally ergonomic setup (for the back and neck in addition to the hands) that doesn't necessarily have to conform to the standard chair+desk setup (e.g. a custom setup where one lies on their back with their monitor suspended above their face and th…
My understanding is that any position for too long becomes un-ergonomic, and really our bodies crave variability. I do my most productive coding on my couch in a weird slouching position, but I try not to do it for too long. I'll frequently switch back to my desk, and then try and take as many calls as possibly walking around the neighborhood. I can't focus on code at a standing desk or sitting on a yoga ball or what…
I appreciate your attempt to help, but what works for your body may not work for others - I'm looking for general ergonomic principles backed up by sound scientific evidence.
Re: Hands-Free Coding (2020)
#38Earlier quoted context omitted.
My understanding is that any position for too long becomes un-ergonomic, and really our bodies crave variability. I do my most productive coding on my couch in a weird slouching position, but I try not to do it for too long. I'll frequently switch back to my desk, and then try and take as many calls as possibly walking around the neighborhood. I can't focus on code at a standing desk or sitting on a yoga ball or what…
I appreciate your attempt to help, but what works for your body may not work for others - I'm looking for general ergonomic principles backed up by sound scientific evidence.
Have you started here? https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=anatomy+ergonomics
Re: Hands-Free Coding (2020)
#39Earlier quoted context omitted.
My understanding is that any position for too long becomes un-ergonomic, and really our bodies crave variability. I do my most productive coding on my couch in a weird slouching position, but I try not to do it for too long. I'll frequently switch back to my desk, and then try and take as many calls as possibly walking around the neighborhood. I can't focus on code at a standing desk or sitting on a yoga ball or what…
I appreciate your attempt to help, but what works for your body may not work for others - I'm looking for general ergonomic principles backed up by sound scientific evidence.
I can't provide you with the scientific basic for correct elbow angles and back erectitude, but I will echo the GP's meta-suggestion of 'variety'. I've heard you're supposed to change position every 20 minutes, and stay no more than 2 hours in any position. Walk around, swing your arms. This is the first-order bit. Most other techniques and tools seem to be band-aids to help you tolerate longer stretches of time in a single position. Which, do what you gotta do. But changing it up is the most important thing.
Re: Hands-Free Coding (2020)
#40As someone who may slowly be working his way toward RSI, I'd like to try to mitigate it before I get to the point of the author. To that end, I'd like to try to build a maximally ergonomic setup (for the back and neck in addition to the hands) that doesn't necessarily have to conform to the standard chair+desk setup (e.g. a custom setup where one lies on their back with their monitor suspended above their face and th…
I've got too much experience of this although undoubtedly not the same as you have, everybody's body being different.
What specific type of RSI are you talking about – in the wrists, back problems, neck, something else? RSI isn't just one thing. Where do you think it's going to hit you hardest?
My advice would be speak to a physio, take a break for 5 minutes every half an hour or more often, and above all get a voice recognition system if you're worried about your wrists/fingers being damaged from typing. Also, don't spend a ton of your life in front of the computer.