From: cal@think.com (Cliff Lasser)
Newsgroups: sci.med.occupational
Subject: Evaluation of the "DataHand" keyboard  -  long message
Date: 20 Aug 1992 22:54:27 GMT
Organization: Thinking Machines Corporation, Cambridge MA, USA
NNTP-Posting-Host: strident.think.com


Lots of people have been asking me for this evaluation, so here it is:

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				  SUMMARY

This report describes my experience with the "DataHand" keyboard
manufactured by Industrial Innovations.  I have had a beta version of this
keyboard for eight weeks in the hopes of solving the tendonitis in my
forearms.  While the keyboard has not cured my injury, it has permitted me
to significantly increase my typing and reduce my pain.  I have had no
particularly difficult problems in using the DataHand, though people with
especially small hands might find it difficult to use.  After a couple of
weeks of using the DataHand, I was typing as fast as I was on a regular
keyboard.

Based on my limited experience, I would recommend that people with
tendonitis in their forearms try the DataHand.  I am not a doctor, and only
time will tell whether the DataHand is a truly better keyboard, but it is
my opinion that it has an inherently better design that is less likely to
lead to Repetitive Stress Injuries of the hands and wrists.


			   WHAT IS THE DATAHAND

The DataHand is an alternate keyboard device.  "Keyboard" is really the
wrong description since that would imply a board of keys.  This does not
properly describe the DataHand and I won't try in this message.  However,
since many of the people who come into my office to take a look at it say
"that looks weird", I will describe it in the following way: Imagine that
an alien from outer space came across one of our keyboards.  What would
he/she/it deduce about our physical appearance?  I would suggest that
humans would have a single arm coming out of the middle of our trunk, with
somewhere around 13 antenna-like fingers all hinged in a straight line, and
with the outer fingers fatter than the inner fingers (how else would you
explain the wide shift, control and return keys?)!  Weird indeed!  Of
course we know what we really look like, and it should be apparent to all
that the current keyboard design is an abomination.  No wonder so many
typers are suffering from Repetitive Stress Injuries.

So what does a DataHand look like?  Again, I'm not going to try, but you
will agree with me when you see one that it really does look like it was
designed for the human hand.  And, it feels that way.


	 HOW DOES THE DATAHAND INTERFACE WITH MY WORK ENVIRONMENT

I have an "X" terminal that accepts IBM PS/2 compatible keyboards, and so I
just simply plugged my DataHand into it.  There were a few keys that did
not appear to match up properly, but there was nothing I couldn't fix with
the X command "xmodmap".  The DataHand has its own interesting mouse
capabilities, but I'm not able to use them.  I just use the standard mouse
that plugs directly into my X term.  The DataHand mouse capability can be
used with Mac's and PC's.

I've also made some adjustments such as placing the DataHand in a keyboard
tray and adjusting the height of my chair - all things you should do
anyway.


			 WHY DO I HAVE A DATAHAND

As you might have guessed, I'm one of those people suffering from a
Repetitive Stress Injury.  I contracted tendonitis in both of my forearms a
year ago.  The pain was sufficient to keep me from typing for a couple of
months, and I still type much less and far slower than I used to.
Fortunately for me, I have not had to go on disability leave, but I know
others who have.  The pain has been bad enough to interfere with my sleep.
I don't know if this problem will ever really go away.

I got a DataHand with the hope that it would solve or at least minimize my
problems.


		      HOW LONG HAVE I HAD MY DATAHAND

I received my DataHand almost eight weeks ago.  I have been using it
exclusively since receiving it.  Although eight weeks is not enough to make
final pronouncements about a new product like this, I do feel I have seen a
sufficient amount of improvement in my condition to warrant this report.


	 HOW LONG DID IT TAKE ME TO BECOME PROFICIENT AT USING IT
				    and
		   HOW HAS MY TYPING SPEED BEEN AFFECTED

The short answer is less than two weeks and my typing speed is the same as
before using the DataHand.

The long answer is: I used to be one of the faster "hunt and peck" typists
around.  Six months after I was injured, I decided to learn to touchtype.  I
also decided to switch to the "dvorak" keyboard layout.  (As an aside, did
you know the the standard "qwerty" keyboard layout was designed so that
typists wouldn't type too fast and jam the hammers of the old mechanical
typewriters!)  I went even beyond that and started moving keys around as I
recognized which motions were causing me the most pain.  My keyboard layout
is nonstandard, but I believe it has helped me a lot.  In any case, about
one week after receiving my DataHand, I was typing pretty reasonably.  Two
weeks after receiving it, I was typing at least as quickly as I was on a
regular keyboard.

As far as actual speed is concerned, I no longer type nearly as fast as I
used to with just four fingers, but I am getting faster.  The manufacturer
of the DataHand claims that an experienced typist should be able to type
faster on the DataHand, and I believe there is some merit to that claim.
However, in my case being able to type at all is the real issue.  My speed
is at least as good as it was for touchtyping on a regular keyboard, and
that is good enough for me.


		WHAT HAS THE DATAHAND DONE FOR MY CONDITION

I would say that my condition has improved significantly since I have been
using the DataHand.  

Before the DataHand, if I did more than a small amount of typing I would
certainly suffer a flareup that would prevent me from typing for a couple
of weeks.  Especially difficult was coding, which requires hitting many of
the numeric, punctuation, and special function keys.  Editing with Emacs,
the only editor I am willing to use, was also difficult because hitting
Shift, Control and Meta along with other keys requires contorting ones
hands.  One does not realize what typing does to ones hands until they have
been injured, and all these user interfaces were not designed to minimize
stress on ones hands.

Since I have been using the DataHand, I have substantially increased my
amount of typing.  I have also done a certain amount of coding and plenty
of editing.  While I do not have any quantitative measurements of my amount
of typing, I am certain that I am now now typing a lot more and with far
less pain.  I would not even consider trying to do the amount of coding and
editing I do now without the DataHand because I know from previous
experience that I would certainly have a flareup that would put me out of
commission for a couple of weeks.

Am I cured?  Unfortunately, not yet.  I still have pain, though
substantially less than before.  I also suffered a flareup a few weeks ago.
My suspicion is that I was typing far more than I used to, and my forearms
are not ready for that yet.  However I continued typing through the flareup
- something I would not have dreamed of doing on a normal keyboard.  I did
cut back on my typing, but I did not stop.  This may sound backwards, but
it was the fact that I was able to continue typing during the flareup that
convinced me that I was doing much better.

By the way, I have typed this entire report in about three hours, composing
it and editing on the fly, and while I do have some minor pain, it is not
stopping me.  I am very thankful that I am able to type this much again.


		       WHAT REAL PROBLEMS HAVE I HAD

The biggest problem I've had with the DataHand has been related to the
thumb unit.  The thumb unit has several switches that correspond to Shift,
Control, Meta (Alt), Space, Return, ... and so it is quite important,
especially for those of us who use the Control and Meta for their editors.

I have small hands with short stubby fingers and the DataHand has clearly
been designed for a larger hand than mine.  While the finger units can be
partially adjusted, the thumb unit is too far away from the rest of my
hand.  I have been able to partially solve the problem by sticking pieces
of cardboard to the thumb keys to reduce the distance my thumb has to
travel.  You have to see a DataHand to understand what I'm talking about.
I have also been doing some thumb stretching to increase its reach.  The
maker of the DataHand has told me that they are looking into adding some
adjustability to the thumb unit.  I think that should be a requirement for
people with even smaller hands than mine as I can barely get by.

My other problem is related to the fact that I have totally remapped the
keys to my modified Dvorak layout.  Unfortunately, the programming in the
DataHand prevents it of sending shifted values for some of the keys.  If
you intend to use the DataHand as it has been designed, then you have
nothing to worry about.  By the way, the key layout is very similar to the
standard "qwerty" layout, which should make it very easy for most people to
pick up.  I hope that it might be possible to change DataHand's firmware to
remove these restrictions for those of us who want to move things around.


	WHAT CAN I SAY ABOUT THE COMPANY THAT PRODUCED THE DATAHAND

Industrial Innovations is a small company.  The people there have been very
friendly and helpful.  However, they clearly do not have the production
capacity to mass manufacture the DataHand.  As a result, they have only
delivered one of the two beta units they promised us.  This is a
significant problem for us since we have several people who want to try out
these DataHands.  Our original plan called for the keyboards to be passed
around.  However, now that I have the first one and have become dependent
on it (in the positive sense), I am not willing to share it with someone
else - I will not go back to a normal keyboard now that I have a DataHand.



Industrial Innovations Inc. can be reached at 602-860-8584.  I have no
financial interest in Industrial Innovations or any other keyboard
manufacturer.


  Cliff Lasser
  Thinking Machines Corporation
  Cal@Think.Com
Newsgroups: sci.med.occupational