Followup-To: sci.med.occupational
Summary: everything you ever wanted to know about replacing your keyboard
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.c+health
Date:         Tue, 8 Sep 1992 13:09:37 -0700
Reply-To:     Dan Wallach <dwallach@nas.nasa.gov>
From:         Dan Wallach <dwallach@NAS.NASA.GOV>
Subject:      FAQ: Typing Injuries (2/3): Keyboard Alternatives [monthly
              posting]
Comments: To: c+health@iubvm.ucs.indiana.edu

Archive-name: typing-injury-faq/keyboards
Version: $Revision: 4.5 $ $Date: 92/08/21 14:33:37 $

The Alternative Keyboard FAQ
By Dan Wallach <dwallach@nas.nasa.gov> or <dwallach@soda.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, news.answers, and e-mail to
		       c+health@iubvm.ucs.indiana.edu and
		       sorehand@vm.ucsf.edu]

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:
    The Bat
    DataHand
    Comfort Keyboard System
    Kinesis Ergonomic Keyboard
    Maltron
    The Tony! Ergonomic KeySystem
    The MIKey
    The Wave
    The Minimal Motion Computer Access System
    Twiddler
    Half-QWERTY
    Microwriter
    Braille 'n Speak
    Octima
    AccuKey

GIF pictures of many of these products are available via anonymous ftp
from soda.berkeley.edu:pub/typing-injury.  (128.32.131.179)

If you can't ftp, send me mail, and I'll uuencode and mail them to you
(they're pretty big...)

==============

The Bat
    old phone number: 504-336-0033
    current phone number: 504-766-8082

    Infogrip, Inc.
    812 North Blvd.
    Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70802, U.S.A.

    Ward Bond (main contact)
    David Vicknair (did the Unix software)  504-766-1029

    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.

    Price:
	$495 (dual set -- each one is a complete keyboard by itself)
	$295 (single)

	(cheaper prices were seen at MacWorld Expo as a show-special.)


DataHand   602-860-8584
    Industrial Innovations, Inc.
    10789 North 90th Street
    Scottsdale, Arizona 85260-6727, U.S.A.

    Mark Roggenbuck (contact)

    Supports: IBM PC and Macintosh.

    Shipping: In beta.  "Big backlog" -- could take 3 months
	to get one.  Making them "as-needed."  Made by hand.

    Price: $1200/unit for the pair.  Minimum order: 2.

    Each of the four main fingers has five switches each: forward,
    back, left, right, and down.  The thumbs have a number of switches.
    The idea is that your hands never have to move to use the keyboard.
    The whole unit tilts in its base, as a mouse.


Comfort Keyboard System   414-253-4131
    FAX: 414-253-4177

    Health Care Keyboard Company
    N61 W15150 Wigwam Drive
    Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin 53051 U.S.A.

    Theoretical New Address: N82 W15340 Appleton Ave

    Jeffrey Szmanda (President -- contact)

    Shipping: late August.  Purchase agreements will be shipping soon.

    Supports:
	PC
	Mac

    Planned future support:
	Decision Data
	IBM 122-key layout
	Unisys UTS-40
	Sun Sparc
	Silicon Graphics

	Others to be supported later.  The hardware design is relatively
	easy for the company to re-configure.

    Price: starts at $590.

    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 wedges.  Each
    section is on a custom telescoping universal mount.  You can rearrange
    the three sections (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).


Kinesis Ergonomic Keyboard   206-455-9220 (old number: 206-241-4595)
    206-241-9252 (fax -- possibly an old number)

    Kinesis Corporation
    15245 Pacific Highway South,
    Seattle, Washington 98188, U.S.A.

    Shirley Lunde (VP Marketing -- contact)

    Shipping: first betas out the door, already.  Volume sales after
	they get FCC approval (should be really soon).

    Supports: PC.  Mac and Sun Sparc in the works.

    Price: $690.  Volume discounts available.
	Other prices for various accessories, including custom wrist pads,
	foot pedals, etc.

    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 in the works (for example, replace shift with
    a foot pedal).


Maltron		(+44) 081 398 3265 (United Kingdom)
    PCD-Maltron Limited
    15 Orchard Lane, Each Moseley
    Surrey KT8 OBN, United Kingdon

    Pamela and Stephen Hobday (contacts)

    U.S. Distributor:
	Jim Barrett
	Applied Learning Corp.
	1376 Glen Hardie Road
	Wayne, PA  19087

	Phone: 215-688-6866  (NOTE: I had a typo here, last time)

    Supports: PC's, Amstrad 1512/1640, BBC B, BBC Master,
	      should have Mac by the end of the year


    Price: 375 pounds
	   $735 shipped in the U.S.A. (basically, converted price + shipping)

	   The cost is less for BBC computers, and 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 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: possibly by the end of the year.

    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 MIKey     301-933-1111
    Dr. Alan Grant
    3208 Woodhollow Drive
    Chevy Chase, Maryland 20815, U.S.A.

    Shipping: "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 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

    Works with: 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.


The Minimal Motion Computer Access System 	508-263-6437
    508-263-6537 (fax)

    Equal Access Computer Technology
    Dr. Michael Weinreigh
    39 Oneida Rd.
    Acton, MA  01720, U.S.A.

    Price: InfoGrip-compatible: "a few hundred dollars" + a one-handed Bat
	  For their own system: $300 (DOS software) + "a few hundred dollars"

    Shipping: these are custom-made, so an occupational therapist would
	  make moulds/do whatever to make it for you.  You can buy one now.

    Supports: PC only, although the InfoGrip-compatible version might
	  work with a Mac.

    In a one-handed version, there is exactly one button per finger.  In a
    two-handed version, you get four buttons per finger, and the thumbs
    don't do anything.  You can also get one-handed versions with three
    thumb buttons -- compatible with the InfoGrip Bat.  Basically, get it
    any way you want.

    They also have a software tutorial to help you learn the chording.

    Works on a PC under DOS, not Windows.  Planning on Macintosh and
    PC/Windows support.  No work has been done on a Unix version, yet.


Twiddler	516-474-4405, or 800-638-2352
    Handykey
    141 Mt. Sinai Ave.
    Mt. Sinai, NY 11766

    Chris George (President)

    Shipping: now.

    Price: $199.

    Supports: PC only.  Mac and X Windows in the works.

    The Twiddler is both a keyboard and a mouse, and it fits in one hand.
    The cabling leaves your normal keyboard available, also.

    Most applications work, and Windows works fine.  DESQview has trouble.
    GEOWorks also has trouble -- mouse works, keyboard doesn't.


Half-QWERTY	(Canada) 416-749-3124
    The Matias Corporation
    178 Thistledown Boulevard
    Rexdale, Ontario, Canada
    M9V 1K1

    E-mail: ematias@dgp.toronto.edu

    Supports: Mac and IBM (but, not Windows)

    Price (U.S.):   $84.95 ($79.95 + $5 shipping)
	 (Canada):  $90.55 ($79.95 + $5 shipping + $5.60 GST)
	 (Ontario): $96.95 ($79.95 + $5 shipping + $5.60 GST + $6.40 PST)

    Shipping: Now.

    This thing is purely software.  No hardware at all.

    The software will mirror the keyboard when you hold down the space
    bar, allowing you type one-handed.


AccuKey		703-961-3576
    Vatell Corp.
    P.O. Box 66
    Christiansburg, VA 24073

    (This info provided by Wes Hunter <Wesley.Hunter@AtlantaGA.NCR.com>)

    Price: ??

    Shipping::  I believe that they are not shipping a product yet.
    Some arm twisting might get an evaluation unit.

    Specifications: 2" x 7" x 12"; 2 lbs.;  8 ternary keys;  characters
    input by chording;  emulates any conventional keyboard character set;
    plug compatible models for PC/AT, PC/XT, and all CRT terminals; no
    software mods needed


Octima	(Israel) 972-4-5322844
    FAX: (+972) 3 5322970

    Ergoplic Keyboards Ltd.
    P.O. Box 31
    Kiryat Ono 55100, Israel

    (info from Mandy Jaffe-Katz <RXHFUN@HAIFAUVM.BITNET>)
    A one-handed keyboard.


Microwriter AgendA (U.K.) (+44) 276 692 084
    FAX: (+44) 276 691 826

    Microwriter Systems plc
    M.S.A. House
    2 Albany Court
    Albany Park
    Frimley
    Surrey GU15 2XA, United Kingdom

    (Info from Carroll Morgan <Carroll.Morgan@prg.oxford.ac.uk>)

    The AgendA is a personal desktop assistant (PDA) style machine.  You
    can carry it along with you.  It has chording input.  You can also
    hook it up to your PC, or even program it.

    It costs just under 200 pounds, with 128K memory.


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.)

===========

Thanks go to Chris Bekins <AS.CCB@forsythe.stanford.edu> for providing
the basis for this information.

Thanks to the numerous contributors:

Doug Martin <martin@nosc.mil>
Carroll Morgan <Carroll.Morgan@prg.oxford.ac.uk>
Mandy Jaffe-Katz <RXHFUN@HAIFAUVM.BITNET>
Wes Hunter <Wesley.Hunter@AtlantaGA.NCR.com>
Paul Schwartz <pschwrtz@cs.washington.edu>
H.J. Woltring <WOLTRING@NICI.KUN.NL>
Dan Sorenson <viking@iastate.edu>
Chris VanHaren <vanharen@MIT.EDU>
Ravi Pandya <ravi@xanadu.com>
Leonard H. Tower Jr. <tower@ai.mit.edu>
Dan Jacobson <Dan_Jacobson@ATT.COM>
Jim Cheetham  <jim@oasis.icl.co.uk>
Cliff Lasser <cal@THINK.COM>

and everybody else who I've probably managed to forget.

The opinions in here are my own, unless otherwise mentioned, and do not
represent the opinions of any organization or vendor.

Mailing date: Tue Sep  8 13:09:36 PDT 1992
Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU