106 points by akavel 2 weeks ago | 27 comments
barriteau 2 weeks ago
There is some room for improvement, but it really works, flawlessly [3].
[1] https://www.tapwithus.com/how-tapxr-works/
ics 2 weeks ago
barriteau 2 weeks ago
I've only used them as keyboards, so I'm not very familiar with the media controller options, but as far as I can see it's a very easy mode to use.
You can use two of them at the same time, one in each hand, but it probably won't be necessary, you can get to type very fast with one hand.
They are very well supported on iOS. I once plugged one into Windows and it seemed to work fine, but I have not tested it extensively.
ics 2 weeks ago
barriteau 2 weeks ago
rendaw 2 weeks ago
barriteau 1 week ago
There are also "air gestures" (Smart TV control, air mouse, and media control modes) that don't require a surface. (By the way, there are recent updates in this department that leave out the Tap Strap).
I'm not into gaming, VR sets or the like at all, so I can't say how good or bad these are for that sort of thing, but that market seems to be the main focus and direction the company is taking these days.
jonquark 2 weeks ago
Sn0wCoder 2 weeks ago
Would be interested to hear about anyone's experience that owns one of these. How do they hold up? How long did it take to get used to using? Would you recommend to a friend?
akavel 2 weeks ago
mcshicks 2 weeks ago
https://wearables.cc.gatech.edu/projects/twidor/screens.html
akavel 2 weeks ago
For learning, I personally just try to slowly code simple hobby things in vim, with the cheatsheet in the other hand... I tried to make the layout relatively intuitive wherever I could. I also patiently went through all the possible combinations of presses, and tried to group them into categories of easy<->medium<->hard<->impossible, then tried to put esp. the more frequently used keys on the easier combinations/chords.
runsonrum 2 weeks ago
rendaw 2 weeks ago
I'm in this niche market too... although I don't really have an immediate use case beyond someday being more portable. Also had some issues with XR glasses and fov being reduced further by eye-glass distance.
akavel 2 weeks ago
As to resistance, there's a balance to be adjusted between having the buttons too easy or to hard. This seems in main part to need to be adjusted by their positioning though. If too easy, you'll press combinations/chords accidentally too often. If too hard, it gets tiresome and annoying. Maybe there's some better placement possible, haven't found it yet. The switches currently used are Alps; they have dimensions which make them a good fit for this particular design; Cherry MX are a tiny bit too big and would require some rethinking.
As to 2 hands, the whole point for me is to have my main (right) hand available for other use, like drinking water, or otherwise supporting myself in the physical environment around. So I'm not currently interested in two-handed.
As to the number of keys - the four fingers seem busy enough; on the other hand, if you could fit smaller switches around (as in the DataHand design https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DataHand - see also 3d-printed clones on the internet - _edit:_ e.g. the https://svalboard.com, as mentioned by someone else, and lalboard https://hackaday.io/project/178232-lalboard-ergonomic-keyboa... as respectfully linked from therein), maybe you could try working with that. The obvious extra possibility is the thumb as you mention - it does feel like something could be added there, though it also sometimes helps a bit in holding the device. The original Chordite designer managed to somehow do it without a strap, but his reasons to not use the thumb are somewhat confusing to me.