I’m currently designing a hot-swap hub+spoke keyboard, and I’m thinking a little ahead about the gaming keyboard module. I’m considering using a thumbstick instead of what would be the WASD cluster, alongside ample surrounding keys for RTS and other such games that have big hotkey configs.
Has anyone done this, and what has been your experience? Is it worthwhile pursuing? I’ve seen trackpoints for mice, but I’m not aiming [heh] to replace my mouse - only the WASD cluster. A trackpoint also seems like it could be a poor fit for movement controls.
My main concern is the height of the thumbstick: I’m probably looking at a significant height difference between the keys and the thumbstick (which I picture being pretty bad for ergonomics). Any suggestions for that would be appreciated.
Thanks!
WASD needs three fingers to operate, a stick just has room for one. There’s also a reason why controllers have them set up for the thumbs at not for any other fingers.
I’d say it makes a lot more sense to put one in the thumb area and leave the WASD area alone.
My hope was that I would sub a 3 finger control to a 1 finger control, opening up the other two for other things - but thinking about it more now leads me to believe that fingers just wouldn’t bend that way.
I think you might be right. It might make sense for me to repurpose an existing design.
https://github.com/wolfwood/navcaps
you can 3d print an adapter to place a thumbstick in an MX keyplate socket. and keycaps. 5 way switches tend to require more force than regular keyswitches, but a longer stem will offset that.
check out schiller’s fulcrum keyboard as well.
That looks like exactly what I’m after, thanks!