3 ms·
EDIT: Due to terminology differences I missed that my point here was indeed taken into account with this layout. Super excited to see this! --- I think most
by mightybyte 4y ago
EDIT: Due to terminology differences I missed that my point here was indeed taken into account with this layout. Super excited to see this!
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I think most of the efficiency functions that these kinds of efforts tend to optimize for miss the most important factor.
I've thought about this a fair amount drawing on my experience switching to dvorak 15 or so years ago and not getting the typing speed increase I was hoping for, and also from having a close friend with a PhD in piano performance. There's one thing that I've never seen taken into account by these kind of keyboard layout optimization efforts that pianists understand is very important, and that is runs. Most people seem to focus on individual finger movements, a meaningful component to be sure. But I think there's still a lot that could be gained from optimizing a layout for runs. Runs are sequences where the fingers are depressed in sequential order across the hand (possibly skipping one or more fingers). They can be played (typed) not so much by isolating individual finger movements, but by getting the hand into the correct shape in a single movement and then actually depressing keys with a single rotation of the arm/hand/wrist.
The interesting thing about optimizing for runs is that it's directly opposed to the alternating hand optimization that the dvorak layout uses. I would love to see some exploration in this area and think it could yield meaningful speedups. Unfortunately, getting proficient with a layout takes a long enough time that I'm not super likely to take the project on myself.
- b3n 4y agoThese runs (also known as "handroll combos") are one thing that the Colemak layout optimizes for. See: https://colemak.com/Hand_alternation https://colemak.com/Hand_alternation
- mightybyte 4y agoOh, I wasn't aware of that! Thanks for the pointer!
- twh270 4y agoThe article describes how he created a layout based on optimizing 'rolls', which is (I think) the same as piano runs as you describe: striking keys in sequential order across the hand. So for example 'the', 'you', 'in', and 'as' are all struck with adjacent fingers, just as you would play a piano or (as he describes) drum your fingers on a table. He very much considers this important factor as the critical component of the layout he describes.
- mightybyte 4y agoOh good point, my bad. I was skimming for "runs" (more of a piano term) and missed the bits about "rolls". I also wasn't aware that this is a thing in tetris. Very cool!