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Answers To Frequently Asked Questions about Keyboard Alternatives
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The Alternative Keyboard FAQ
Copyright 1992,1993 By Dan Wallach <dwallach@cs.berkeley.edu>;
The opinions in here are my own, unless otherwise mentioned, and do not
represent the opinions of any organization or vendor.
[Current distribution: sci.med.occupational, sci.med, comp.human-factors,
{news,sci,comp}.answers, and e-mail to c+health@iubvm.ucs.indiana.edu,
sorehand@vm.ucsf.edu, and cstg-L@vtvm1.cc.vt.edu]
Changes since previously distributed versions are marked with change
bars to the right of the text, as is this paragraph.
Information in this FAQ has been pieced together from phone conversations,
e-mail, and product literature. While I hope it's useful, the information
in here is neither comprehensive nor error free. If you find something
wrong or missing, please mail me, and I'll update my list. Thanks.
All phone numbers, unless otherwise mentioned, are U.S.A. phone numbers.
All monetary figures, unless otherwise mentioned, are U.S.A. dollars.
Products covered in this FAQ:
Using a PC's keyboard on your workstation / compatibility issues
("normal" keyboards -- by normal, I really mean non-chording)
Apple Computer, Inc.
Comfort Keyboard System
DataHand
FlexPro (Key Tronic)
Kinesis Ergonomic Keyboard
The MIKey
Maltron
MiniErgo (Marquardt Switches)
The Tony! Ergonomic KeySystem
The Vertical
The Wave
("chording" systems / speech recognizers / other products)
AccuKey
The Bat (Infogrip)
Braille 'n Speak (Blaize)
DataEgg (InHand Development)
DragonDictate (Dragon Systems)
Half-QWERTY
IBM Speech Server Series (ISSS)
||
IN3 Voice Command
Kurzweil
Microwriter
The Minimal Motion Computer Access System
Octima
Twiddler
GIF pictures of many of these products are available via anonymous ftp
from soda.berkeley.edu:pub/typing-injury. (128.32.149.19) I highly
recommend getting the pictures. They tell much more than I can fit
into this file.
If you can't ftp, send me mail, and I'll uuencode and mail them to you
(they're pretty big...)
==============
Using a PC's keyboard on your workstation / compatibility issues
Mini outline:
1. Spoofing a keyboard over the serial port
2. X terminals
3. NeXT
4. Silicon Graphics
5. IBM RS/6000
6. Other stuff
1. Spoofing a keyboard over the serial port
If you've got a proprietary computer which uses its own keyboard
(Sun, HP, DEC, etc.) then you're going to have a hard time finding
a vendor to sell you a compatible keyboard. If your workstation
runs the X window system, you're in luck. You can buy a cheap used
PC, hook your expensive keyboard up to it, and run a serial cable
to your workstation. Then, run a program on the workstation to
read
the serial port and generate fake X keyboard events.
A number of programs can facilitate this for you. kt and a2x
support ASCII input. a2x-RawPC and serkey support raw PC scancode
input. Also, the new version of kt (kt18) additionally supports
||
raw PC scancodes.
||
a2x is a sophisticated program, capable of controlling the mouse,
and even moving among widgets on the screen. It requires a server
extension (XTEST, DEC-XTRAP, or XTestExtension1). To find out if
your server can do this, run 'xdpyinfo' and see if any of these
strings appear in the extensions list. If your server doesn't
have this, you may want to investigate compiling X11R5, patchlevel
18 or later, or bugging your vendor.
kt is a simpler program, which should work with unextended X
servers. Another program called xsendevent also exists, but I
haven't seen it.
a2x-RawPC, serkey, and kt18 can take input from a device such as
the
Genovation Serial Box which converts a PC keyboard into a normal
RS232 serial device, but otherwise passes through the raw PC
scancodes. This approach has several advantages: a Serial Box is
only $150, whereas the cheapest used PC you may ever find is over
$300. A Serial Box could easily fit in your pocket, while PC's
tend to be much bigger. Most important, however, is the ability
to use *all* the keys of your PC keyboard with your workstation,
like the function keys.
a2x, a2x-RawPC, serkey and kt are all available via anonymous ftp
from soda.berkeley.edu.
Genovation can be contacted at:
17741 Mitchell North
Irvine, CA 92714, U.S.A.
Voice: 714-833-3355
Fax: 714-833-0322
Apparently, you can also find it for $94+shipping from a mail order
company called "United Computer Express", at 800-448-3738.
Kinesis is also reselling the Genovation boxes under their
||
own label.
||
2. X terminals
Also, a number of X terminals (NCD, Tektronix, to name a few) use
PC-compatible keyboards. If you have an X terminal, you may be all
set. Try it out with a normal PC keyboard before you go through
the
trouble of buying an alternative keyboard. Also, some X terminals
add
extra buttons -- you may need to keep your original keyboard around
for the once-in-a-blue-moon that you have to hit the Setup key.
3. NeXT
NeXT had announced that new NeXT machines will use the Apple
Desktop
Bus, meaning any Mac keyboard will work. Then, they announced they
were cancelling their hardware production. If you want any kind of
upgrade for an older NeXT, do it now!
4. Silicon Graphics
Silicon Graphics has announced that their newer machines (Indigo^2
and
beyond) will use standard PC-compatible keyboards and mice. I
don't
believe this also applies to the Power Series machines. It's not
possible to upgrade an older SGI to use PC keyboards, except by
upgrading the entire machine. Contact your SGI sales rep for more
details.
5. IBM RS/6000
IBM RS/6000 keyboards are actually similar to normal PC keyboards.
Unfortunately, you can't just plug one in. You need two things: a
cable converter to go from the large PC keyboard connector to the
smaller PS/2 style DIN-6, and a new device driver for AIX. Believe
it or not, IBM wrote this device driver recently, I used it, and it
works. However, they don't want me to redistribute it. I've been
told Judy Hume (512) 823-6337 is a potential contact. If you learn
anything new, please send me e-mail.
Several people have reported problems contacting IBM on this
||
issue. Be sure to bug your sales rep into doing the research.
||
Again, let me know if you learn anything new.
||
6. Other stuff
Some vendors here (notably: Health Care Keyboard Co. and AccuCorp)
support some odd keyboard types, and may be responsive to your
queries regarding supporting your own weird computer. If you can
get sufficient documention about how your keyboard works (either
from the vendor, or with a storage oscilloscope), you may be in
luck. Contact the companies for more details.
===========
("normal" keyboards -- things that bear a resemblance to QWERTY)
===========
Apple Adjustable Keyboard
Apple Computer, Inc.
Sales offices all over the place.
Availability: Now.
Price: $219 (some dealers have it for less)
Supports: Mac only
Apple's keyboard has one section for each hand, and the sections
rotateard on a hinge. The sections do not tilt upward. The
keys are arranged in a normal QWERTY fashion.
The main foldable keyboard resembles a normal Apple Keyboard.
A separate keypad contains all the extended key functions.
The keyboard also comes with matching wrist rests, which are not
directly attachable to the keyboard.
Many peripheral keys, such as function keys, are "chicklet" keys,
rather
than full size, normal keyboard keys.
(See the files apple-press and apple-tidbits on the soda.berkeley.edu
archive for more details)
Comfort Keyboard System 414-253-4131
FAX: 414-253-4177
Health Care Keyboard Company
N82 W15340 Appleton Ave
Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin 53051 U.S.A.
Jeffrey Szmanda (Vice President -- contact)
Shipping: Now.
Supports: PC (and Mac???)
Planned future support:
IBM 122-key layout (3270-style, I believe)
Sun Sparc
Decision Data
Unisys UTS-40
Silicon Graphics
Others to be supported later. The hardware design is relatively
easy for the company to re-configure.
Price: $690, including one system "personality module".
The idea is that one keyboard works with everything. You purchase
"compatibility modules", a new cord, and possibly new keycaps, and
then you can move your one keyboard around among different machines.
It's a three-piece folding keyboard. The layout resembles the
standard 101-key keyboard, except sliced into three sections. Each
section is on a "custom telescoping universal mount." Each section
independently adjusts to an infinite number of positions allowing each
individual to type in a natural posture. You can rearrange the three
sections, too (have the keypad in the middle if you want). Each
section is otherwise normal-shaped (i.e.: you put all three sections
flat, and you have what looks like a normal 101-key keyboard).
DataHand 602-860-8584
Industrial Innovations, Inc.
10789 North 90th Street
Scottsdale, Arizona 85260-6727, U.S.A.
Mark Roggenbuck (contact)
Supports: PC and Mac
Shipping: Now. (Expect it to take about a month)
Price: $2000/unit (1 unit == 2 pods). (new price!)
Each hand has its own "pod". Each of the four main fingers has five
switches each: forward, back, left, right, and down. The thumbs have
a number of switches. Despite appearances, the key layout resembles
QWERTY, and is reported to be no big deal to adapt to. The idea is
that your hands never have to move to use the keyboard. The whole pod
tilts in its base, to act as a mouse.
(see also: the detailed review, written by Cliff Lasser <cal@THINK.COM>;
available via anonymous ftp from soda.berkeley.edu)
FlexPro Keyboard
Key Tronic
Phone: 800-262-6006
Possible contact: Denise Razzeto, 509-927-5299
Sold by many clone vendors and PC shops
Availability: October/November, 1993 (?)
Price: $489 (?)
Supports: PC only (highly likely)
Keytronic apparently showed a prototype keyboard at Comdex. It's
another split-design. One thumb-wheel controls the tilt of both
the left and right-hand sides of the main alphanumeric section.
The arrow keys and keypad resemble a normal 101-key PC keyboard.
Keytronic makes standard PC keyboards, also, so this product will
probably be sold through their standard distribution channels.
Kinesis Ergonomic Keyboard 206-455-9220
206-455-9233 (fax)
Kinesis Corporation
915 118th Ave. SE.
Bellevue, Washington 98005, U.S.A.
Shirley Lunde (VP Marketing -- contact)
Shipping: Now.
Supports: PC. Mac and Sun Sparc in the works.
Price: $690. Volume discounts available. The $690 includes one foot
pedal, one set of adhesive wrist pads, and a TypingTutor program.
An additional foot pedal and other accessories are extra.
The layout has a large blank space in the middle, even though the
keyboard is about the size of a normal PC keyboard -- slightly
smaller. Each hand has its own set of keys, laid out to minimize
finger travel. Thumb buttons handle many major functions (enter,
backspace, etc.).
You can remap the keyboard in firmware (very nice when software won't
allow the reconfig).
Foot pedals are also available, and can be mapped to any key on the
keyboard (shift, control, whatever).
The keypad is "embedded" in the right hand, and a toggle button
||
(or foot pedal) changes between normal and keypad mode for your
||
right hand.
||
Software is newly available that lets you split the Kinesis into
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multiple personalities so you can have more than one set of macros
||
and remappings available. This software runs on your PC and downloads
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the data to the keyboard. For more info, contact the company.
||
Maltron (+44) 081 398 3265 (United Kingdom)
P.C.D. Maltron Limited
15 Orchard Lane
East Molesey
Surrey KT8 OBN
England
Pamela and Stephen Hobday (contacts)
U.S. Distributor:
Jim Barrett
Applied Learning Corp.
1376 Glen Hardie Road
Wayne, PA 19087
Phone: 215-688-6866
Canadian Distributor:
Robert Vellinga
Human Systems, Inc.
310 Main Street East, Suite 205
Milton, Ontario, L9T 1P4
Phone: 416-875-0220
Fax: 416-878-1683
Supports: PC's, Mac, Amstrad 1512/1640.
Price: 375 pounds
$790 + shipping in the U.S.A.
They have a number of accessories, including carrying cases,
switch boxes to use both your normal keyboard and the Maltron,
an articulated arm that clamps on to your table, and training
'courses' to help you learn to type on your Maltron.
You can also rent a keyboard for 10 pounds/week + taxes.
U.S. price: $120/month, and then $60 off purchase if you want
it.
Shipping: Now (in your choice of colors: black or grey)
Maltron has four main products -- a two-handed keyboard, two one-handed
keyboards, and a keyboard designed for handicapped people to control
with
a mouth-stick.
The layout allocates more buttons to the thumbs, and is curved to
bring keys closer to the fingers. A separate keypad is in the middle.
MiniErgo 315-655-8050
FAX: 315-655-8042
Marquardt Switches Inc.
2711 Route 20 East
Cazenovia, New York 13035
Robert Philipchik -- contact
Shipping: middle June 93
Supports: PC/AT and PS/2 (using adaptor) Other interfaces as
customer demand warrants.
Price: $179 for MiniErgo, $125 for external numeric keypad.
The MiniErgo is a split keyboard system with no numeric keypad
(keypad available separately in August). The two halves are
fixed at about a 30 degree angle, to approximate the angle of
your arms when you hands are in QWERTY home position. The slant
is approximately same as standard 101-key keyboard. They've
moved the cursor controls into the gap between the two halves. A
Fn key is used to access an embedded keypad and PgUp,PgDn,Home,
and End.
The MIKey 301-933-1111
Dr. Alan Grant
3208 Woodhollow Drive
Chevy Chase, Maryland 20815, U.S.A.
Shipping: As of July, 1992: "Should be Available in One Year."
Supports: PC, Mac (maybe)
Price: $200 (estimated)
The keyboard is at a fixed angle, and incorporates a built-in mouse
operated by the thumbs. Function keys are arranged in a circle at
the keyboard's left.
The Tony! Ergonomic KeySystem 415-969-8669
Tony Hodges
The Tony! Corporation
2332 Thompson Court
Mountain View, CA 94043, U.S.A.
Supports: Mac, PC, IBM 3270, Sun, and DEC.
Shipping: ???
Price: $625 (you commit now, and then you're in line to buy the
keyboard. When it ships, if it's cheaper, you pay the cheaper price.
If it's more expensive, you still pay $625)
The Tony! should allow separate positioning of every key, to allow
the keyboard to be personally customized. A thumb-operated mouse
will also be available.
The Vertical
Contact: Jeffrey Spencer or Stephen Albert, 619-454-0000
P.O. Box 2636
La Jolla, CA 92038, U.S.A.
Supports: no info available, probably PC's
Available: Summer, 1993
Price: $249
The Vertical Keyboard is split in two halves, each pointing straight
up.
The user can adjust the width of the device, but not the tilt of each
section. Side-view mirrors are installed to allow users to see their
fingers on the keys.
The Wave (was: 213-) 310-644-6100
FAX: 310-644-6068
Iocomm International Technology
12700 Yukon Avenue
Hawthorne, California 90250, U.S.A.
Robin Hunter (contact -- in sales)
Cost: $99.95 + $15 for a set of cables
Supports: PC only.
Shipping: now.
Iocomm also manufactures "ordinary" 101-key keyboard (PC/AT) and
84-key keyboard (PC/XT), so make sure you get the right one.
The one-piece keyboard has a built-in wrist-rest. It looks *exactly*
like a normal 101-key PC keyboard, with two inches of built-in wrist
rest. The key switch feel is reported to be greatly improved.
===========
(Chording keyboards / speech recognizers / other products)
===========
AccuKey
AccuCorp, Inc.
P.O. Box 66
Christiansburg, VA 24073, U.S.A.
703-961-3576 (Pete Rosenquist -- Sales)
703-961-2001 (Larry Langley -- President)
Shipping: Now.
Supports: PC, Mac, IBM 3270, Sun Sparc, and TeleVideo 935 and 955.
Cost: $495 + shipping.
Doesn't use conventional push-keys. Soft rubber keys, which rock
forward and backward (each key has three states), make chords for
typing keys. Learning time is estimated to be 2-3 hours, for getting
started, and maybe two weeks to get used to it.
Currently, the thumbs don't do anything, although a thumb-trackball
is in the works.
The company claims it takes about a week of work to support a
new computer. They will be happy to adapt their keyboard to
your computer, if possible.
The Bat
Infogrip, Inc.
old phone number: 504-766-8082
new phone number: 805-566-1049
[note: Infogrip apparently moved to Southern California. I don't
have their new address, but their new phone number is above.]
*OLD* Address:
812 North Blvd.
Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70802, U.S.A.
Ward Bond (main contact)
David Vicknair (did the Unix software)
Shipping: Now.
Supports: Mac, IBM PC (serial port -- native keyboard port version
coming very soon...). No other workstations supported, but serial
support for Unix with X Windows has been written. PC and Mac are
getting all the real attention from the company.
A chording system. One hand is sufficient to type everything.
The second hand is for redundancy and increased speed.
Price:
$495 (dual set -- each one is a complete keyboard by itself)
$295 (single)
(cheaper prices were offered at MacWorld Expo as a show-special.)
Braille 'n Speak 301-879-4944
Blazie Engineering
3660 Mill Green Rd.
Street, Md 21154, U.S.A.
(information provided by Doug Martin <martin@nosc.mil>;)
The Braille N Speak uses any of several Braille codes for entering
information: Grade I, Grade II, or computer Braille. Basically,
letters a-j are combinations of dots 1, 2, 4, and 5. Letters k-t are
the same combinations as a-j with dot 3 added. Letters u, v, x, y, and
z are like a-e with dots 3 and 6 added. (w is unique because Louis
Braille didn't have a w in the French alphabet.)
DataEgg
InHand Development Group
10330 Sepulveda Blvd. Suite 140
Mission Hills, CA 91345, U.S.A.
E-Mail: garyf@puente.Jpl.Nasa.Gov
Price: $150
Availability: First ter, 1994. ||
Supports: see below
The DataEgg is a round, one-handed, chording computer with a two-line
LCD display (similar to the Microwriter AgendA). It can also serve
as an alternative computer keyboard through a computer's serial port
(currently supporting the PC, although it wouldn't be too hard to
support X or a Mac if they wrote the driver). InHand will be
manufacturing the device, which was originally developed by Gary
Friedman of JPL.
Mr. Friedman's phone number: 818-354-1220
||
I don't have a phone number for InHand.
More info is available in NASA Tech Briefs, December 1992,
Newsweek's "Technology Supplement" of December 12, 1992,
or EE Times, March 8, 1993.
DragonDictate-30K (and numerous other Dragon products)
Dragon Systems, Inc.
320 Nevada Street
Newton, MA 02160
Phone: 800-TALK-TYP or 617-965-5200
Fax: 617-527-0372
Shipping: Now.
Price: DragonDictate-30K -- $4995 (end user system)
DragonWriter 1000 -- $1595 / $2495 (end user/developer system)
various other prices for service contracts, site licenses, etc.
Compatibility: 386 (or higher) PC only
(3rd party support for Mac)
Free software support for X windows is also available -- your
PC with Dragon hardware talks to your workstation over a
serial cable or network. The program is called a2x, and is
available via anonymous ftp:
soda.berkeley.edu:pub/typing-injury/a2x.tar.Z
ftp.x.org:contrib/a2x.tar.Z (most current)
||
(NOTE: export.lcs.mit.edu is no longer the home of X software.
||
You should do your ftp's to ftp.x.org)
||
If you want to use your Dragon product with X windows, you may want
to ask for Peter Cohen, an salesman at Dragon who knows more about
this sort of thing.
Dragon Systems sells a number of voice recognition products.
Most (if not all) of them seem to run on PC's and compatibles
(including PS/2's and other MicroChannel boxes). They sell you
a hardware board and software which sits in front of a number
of popular word processors and spreadsheets.
Each user `trains' the system to their voice, and there are provisions
to correct the system when it makes mistakes, on the fly. Multiple
people can use it, but you have to load a different personality file
for each person. You still get the use of your normal keyboard, too.
On the DragonDictate-30K you need to pause 1/10th sec between
words. Dragon claims typical input speeds of 30-40 words per minute.
I don't have specs on the DragonWriter 1000.
The DragonDictate-30K can recognize 30,000 words at a time.