Alternative keyboard suggestions?
I think I want a different keyboard configuration, I would like your opinions. I'm looking for a handheld keyboard for the quickstart, etc. to be used while walking or otherwise moving around. I've seen individual key modules for sale, but these cost $5 each, I was targeting $10 total for all the electron components.
The idea is for the keys to be in the place your fingers are, when you hold your PSP, iTouch, DSi etc. Since many folks can touch-type, the keys do NOT need to be visible to the user, the keys may be mounted facing away from the user or in any orientation as long as they are near where the fingers already are. Each hand would access six or seven columns of five or six characters. So 30 to 42 characters per hand, or more possibly. The keyboard could be roughly spherical, either on the outside of a ball or on the inside of two hemispheres. Any suggestions that satisfy the hand-held bit are welcome.
This keyboard still needs to generate all the key codes and navigation codes. Since there is no place for a mouse pad (or is there?) I was thinking of the two thumb button found on hand-helds and game controllers for mouse navigation and scrolling. Also open to using scroll wheels.
First thought was lots of individual switches, then there was the idea of using 5 ways switches for each finger's key buttons. The resistive "buttons" on the quickstart are an option, folks have suggested capacitive are better, I'm open to everything at this point.
The keyboard should not take up any more pins than the minimum. I was thinking one pin would be best, although two pins would be ok. An arrangement of shift registers sounds like a possible solution, but I haven't used them before. Is there a "best way" to get 90-120 button inputs using shift registers? Do they need to be 8 bit, or can 64 bit shift registers be used the same way? Or is there a better method?
Assume this is not for a product, it is not to be used by anyone except me at this point. This is only to be used to investigate the the lowest cost way to implement a prototype, so I can experiment with different configurations.
Thanks in advance!
The idea is for the keys to be in the place your fingers are, when you hold your PSP, iTouch, DSi etc. Since many folks can touch-type, the keys do NOT need to be visible to the user, the keys may be mounted facing away from the user or in any orientation as long as they are near where the fingers already are. Each hand would access six or seven columns of five or six characters. So 30 to 42 characters per hand, or more possibly. The keyboard could be roughly spherical, either on the outside of a ball or on the inside of two hemispheres. Any suggestions that satisfy the hand-held bit are welcome.
This keyboard still needs to generate all the key codes and navigation codes. Since there is no place for a mouse pad (or is there?) I was thinking of the two thumb button found on hand-helds and game controllers for mouse navigation and scrolling. Also open to using scroll wheels.
First thought was lots of individual switches, then there was the idea of using 5 ways switches for each finger's key buttons. The resistive "buttons" on the quickstart are an option, folks have suggested capacitive are better, I'm open to everything at this point.
The keyboard should not take up any more pins than the minimum. I was thinking one pin would be best, although two pins would be ok. An arrangement of shift registers sounds like a possible solution, but I haven't used them before. Is there a "best way" to get 90-120 button inputs using shift registers? Do they need to be 8 bit, or can 64 bit shift registers be used the same way? Or is there a better method?
Assume this is not for a product, it is not to be used by anyone except me at this point. This is only to be used to investigate the the lowest cost way to implement a prototype, so I can experiment with different configurations.
Thanks in advance!
Comments
The thing I wanted to try was finger typing with the keys on the bottom, facing away from the user. But the way I think my fingers want to move says that the qwerty keyboard would have to be cut in half and rotated 135 degrees.
I was going to get one of those ergonometric split keyboards and work from there, but I haven't found one in my price range (free) yet.
One of those "indestructible" silicon roll-able keyboards is also a candidate for hacking, but I haven't sharpened up my knife yet.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/190567721235