I'm glad that you reviewed this board. One of my coworkers has a daughter I believe with cerebral palsy and she doesn't have any ability to do fine motor movements so she can't use a mouse and relies on this keyboard. Because her movements can be quite erratic the fact that it stops input after you've made the selection is actually helpful to her. I definitely feel like better can be done as the quality is ****. He's told me that his daughter who went through college with them, but went through six or seven of them in the process. I can't imagine writing one paper with this.
@@CommodoreFan64 Yeah, that's one of the things I was thinking about as well. It'd be much faster and more comfortable as well. Plus you get a nice headset out of it ^^ .
Stephen Hawking was an atheist so the devil surely helped him with input. Also, from my days in the navy, i can assure you that all morse code wizards are possessed by demons. To see that I'm right, record the emergency incoming message signal sequence and play it back in the middle of the night, you will see how the possessed jump up from bed and start throwing things at you and using foul language.
As someone who is totally blind, let me just put it out there that I would not use this. I use a regular keyboard, no special adaptations, and I can type very fast. As in, greater than 120 words per minute. So, they’re trying to market this to blind people is absolutely ridiculous!
For the curious, I use a Matias Tactile Pro at home and Das Keyboard 4 Ultimate at work. The Matias is the bestKeyboard I've ever used, at least so far.
Yes, but that is to read the screen. I don’t need to be told what I just typed. I already know, since I typed it. Back when I was learning how to type, about 25 years ago, I did have it read back what I typed. I haven’t needed that in a very, very long time.
Touch typists can have very low error rates. Completely zero vision people do make use of screen readers to review their work sometimes and if they are coding they can compile and let the compiler find typos.
If I had to guess I would say there was a masters thesis involved under the guise of a "research paper" and the joke went too far, far enough that a prototype was made, and then momentum carried that to production, and now some poor souls are looking at a stack of boxes they need to sell and a career built on lies. It really just got out of control.
You could probably build a better version of this with an arcade stick kit. Two nice microswitch joysticks with 8-way gates. If gripping the stick was a problem, you could probably swap it for a bigger 3d printed handle. Yeah, definitely under 400 USD.
100% and we know that hardware already exists and will last decades... Add some nice big buttons for special functionality and maybe even a foot pedal or two for things like shift and space, this could be done soon much better it's painful.
This a very stupid comment. The reason that products like this cost so much, is, among other things, that they're low volume, this means either no mass production or it takes much longer to recoup investment in the machinery because fewer people are buying the products
Is like, an 8 minute typing demo in a review a record in length for Thomas? It honestly feels like it, I had to take a double take when I realized there were 8 minutes left at the end of the review!
Off the top of my head this is by far the longest typing demo I've ever done, yeah. Note that the length of the sentence is similar if not slightly shorter than other ones, too.
@@Chyrosran22 I can’t believe I sat through all of it, but this pain… this is nothing compared to what you had to suffer through for this review. Thank you.
I have arthritis and can confirm that I've used a mouse by basically just moving and clicking with the heel of my hand/side of my thumb before. Would definitely work better than the "mouse" feature of this, I think. It makes me sad that things like this are marketed at disabled people and are so shoddy. I'm thankful that my arthritis is usually excellently controlled by medication, because constantly needing to buy overpriced aids that are plastic pieces of crap would sure drain the wallet. That thing also slides around an ABSURD amount, judging by your demo. You'd have to glue it to the damn table or something.
My friend has ALS and lost dexterity in his hands. Me moved to speech typing for a bit, but then lost control of his mouth. He got this device and was able to communicate for a little longer, albeit super slow. This device gave him the ability to communicate for the last few months of his life, albeit so/too slow. Your demonstration at the end of the video was about 10 to 20 times faster than what he was doing. But it was all he had at that point.
I suppose, in theory, if one had the legend memorized and the sensitivities/weights on the movements weren't dog shit, one could actually type relatively fast on this. There are people that choose to play Dark souls with a banana or a flightstick or what have you after all. But I'd think a Touchpad with defined quadrants (and a customizable hold sensitivity) and using a center tap for modifiers (tap once for caps, twice for punctuation, etc) would be far more practical for people with disabilities. Even a layered numpad with a large modifier along the side and a 'spacebar' under it would actually be more practical than this for most, I think. It was certainly more practical when I set up a keypad that way than the 'handicapable' boards I played around with out of curiosity.
I really want to see an Orbitouch master demonstrate what, well, mastery of this board looks like. Instead of just them claiming someone can reach 50WPM, show it to us.
The steam big picture mode includes a way to type with a controller. You select one of 8 sectors with the left stick and each sector has 4 keys that you access with the ABXY buttons. Space, backspace and modifiers are on the shoulder buttons. It's honestly quite comfortable to use for searching something on youtube, give it a shot. You could probably rig up something appropriate for disabled people with the same system and I reckon it would be possible to get 30WPM out of it.
I feel that thing would be made obsolete by a simple eye or head tracking setup using a webcam and free software, mapped to a virtual keyboard. It might've been good when it just came out, 5-10 years ago or whatever, but technology progressed a lot since and there are way better solutions available now.
@@TheNightquaker The problem with that is that anything you could rig up isn't extremely accurate and that it's slow. Most things don't require high framerates, a tesla runs at 20fps for example. That means that there is hardly any hardware that could track eyes well enough. Also, you can't look at anything else while typing and that's a huge disadvantage.
Honestly, I think with changes and if the product wasn't shit, it could actually be good. Make it smaller, and change it so that only front selections are used for normal keys; make it more like a gamepad (circular motions, not jabs) and have it so that when you press either of them, that registers as a click; theoretically, it would be similar to the swipe digital keyboards on devices now, and some people could use it quite fast; your fingers theoretically move less if you are not a touch typist (I know I'm not, but I can type real fast on the mechanical; I am more like a piano typist, if you get my drift). Back swipes use for commands and the stuff. An improvement would probably also be a printed legend on front; better yet, also screen with the possible positions on each input, showing where when you have the left (or the right) joystick in one position, the other positions on the right (left) give this. The good thing about this keyboard is it gave me a lot of theoretical keyboard concepts; such as a sliding keyboard, where you have 2 or more sliders (I'd probably have a modify key slider) with multiple positions on it; those positions all make a combination, that makes a scan code.
As someone who is blind, I can't even begin to IMAGINE using something like this. I feel about this the way that most people would probably feel about watching me use a braille machine to input. In other words, WTF?
I see your point. As somebody who is also blind I'd rather just speech to text my way around to watch CZcams videos, even all the YTP. I'd rather have people hearing my search history than use this piece of junk any day.
@@bazahaza Either on their phones or computers using either software that reads the screen or other hardware that turns screen output, apart from graphics, into braille. I am using speech to read screen contents. That's why I only follow channels where the owner actually knows how to describe things. :)
For a few minutes, I sat there wondering what this creation reminded me of, and then it hit me: index typewriters, a class of very early keyless writing machines where you manually selected the character you wanted - by rotating a disc, moving a pointer, or some other method - and then actuated its strike onto the paper. A cheaper but short-lived alternative to proper keyboard-based machines. (Examples: Mignon, World, Hall.) Would love to see Thomas try to cope with those, although they're rather outside his universe.
The idea of chorded typing on 2 8 directional joysticks is actually really good in theory, if you actually take your time and learn all of the chords, you wouldn't need to look at "the board" to type, it also shouldn't be too much slower than regular typing as you basically need to do 1 action per keystroke, unlike typing with a dpad for example, where you need to spend a lot of time pecking for the key. And has the advantage of beeing very static, unlike regular keyboard where you need to move your hands across the keyboard, a lot, as well as reaching for the mouse, and the lower percision need to opirate a device like that, could meen you would be able to also type with your legs. Could have been very cool for a lazy setup couch setup, where you generaly operate everything with a controller (gyro for cursor input), but can acausally type with your stincking feet, with no need to get lost of the controller ever. But sadely the execution of it all isn't that good, with cheap built quality, joystick that aren't bound to the 8 exclusively needed directions, requiring more percision, horible mouse mode, and the handles design showing that creators clearly didn't think of it beeing operated by the legs.
It's going to be slower since you're returning after every "keystroke" - I'd think it would be comparable to one-finger typing on a regular keyboard, certainly not as fast as touch-typing. And operating it with feet sounds annoying - you'd need a pretty heavy base to keep the thing from moving as you push the joystick around with your feet, and something like a set of pads or even a basic pedal combined with the controller sounds like a better idea.
@@maciejstachowski183 Actually if the characters match with the first or second joystick position, you won't need to move that, and even you did, chords are still a lot fatser then 1fingering a keyboard, as it requires alot more percision, and is a lot less static, as well as being really frustraiting. And foot pedals give you a lot less funcionality / key combination. I think i've made my point that it could work really well in theory, but is implemented poorly.
Consider that you can actuate 5 keys at once with a single hand while the dual joysticks would limit you to a maximum of two disregarding macros. Someone with a single hand would fare better using a smaller keyboard that allows them to access all the keys without moving their hand. Maybe a 40% macro keyboard would suit them better.
This would now be a perfect time to do a Top X Worst Keyboards of All Time. From the Fold 2000, NightOwl, ErgoDex, and ZX Spectrum to the OrbiTouch, Maltron and the MyFirstKeyboard as well as the ungodly evil that is the Laser Projector Keyboard. I think you have more than enough material for such a video. Something like that would make even the hateful Smith Corona leafspring bag of bolts feel loved. 😅😅😅😅
@@SonicBoone56 The Laser Keyboard video is pretty high on the shit-o-meter. My favorite "worst" keyboard has to be the Keyboard Origami one with Maxi DwS switches just for him failing to contain his laughter 😆
You... you think the ErgoDox belongs in the same category as the OrbiTouch, Fold 2000, MyFirstKeyboard and Nightowl?! I don't think Thomas's review, as a known ergo-board hater, even gave that impression. It's one of the best keyboards I've used, and I own a Model F. :D Don't give in to the ergo-hate, they're not all ridiculous as this example. I totally agree otherwise though, that's a great idea for a video.
@@jb_lofi I didn't exactly categorized them as such... Also I mispelled. It was the ErgoDex, the shit he reviewed last year. And probably I would have categorized them for being Rubber based.
@@zakutenakazumiya1516 That one must have been so unremarkable and shite I don't even remember it... So maybe it's does deserve to be in that category 😂
I'm a little surprised that you didn't say anything about the typing sound. You constantly talk about Cherry switches being scratchy and terrible, but they are silky smooth compared to this thing. Also, I really would have liked to hear your reaction if it were RGB backlit. Finally, where does this thing fall in your list of worst keyboards ever?
Wanted to test a thing, so I enabled OSK and click assist (hover for a bit =click ) and it feels so much better than whatever this is, checks all the boxes in terms of a11y AND can be used one handed. This comment was written with that.
I was just thinking OSK with sensitivity set appropriately for a user would undoubtedly be better and at least you can look at what your typing instead of staring down at the board in an attempt to learn it...
steam had a "flower" keyboard for a while in big picture mode, that you use with a controller. I actually quite liked it. it's like this, but without the boobs, and better in every conceivable way. it still sucked enough that they removed it from steam, but you can still find pictures online
once again an example of "The theory is sound, the implementation is horrendous" Leaving the legend of an entire set of keys is not exactly good quality control on a keyboard. It's like removing the legend off of all the keys and then giving it to someone who's never used a keyboard before and telling them to type an essay on it.
As an Assistive Technology specialist, this is a primary example of what not to build. I and my colleagues are continually enraged by designs that are marketed as "ergonomic" and "assistive technology" which I put in quotations as no one from either complimentary field worked on this. Products like this also tend to be more expensive, have less technical support, are less intuitive, and are more prone to wear & damage. All of this is detrimental to individuals with disabilities or chronic illnesses. From a low vision perspective, there is nothing that orients the user, and the keyboard "layout" is subjective, meaning it doesn't have individual inputs for keys. From a disability use perspective, it takes more work and control to operate, so those with muscular, cognitive, or neurological disabilities and illnesses will have greater difficulty using it. This seems to be nothing but a "what if" concept product which was seen by an overzealous and ignorant marketing executive. It is incredibly obvious that an ergonomics specialist, Assistive Technology specialist or professional, or anyone certified through RESNA, NCART, or IAAP were consulted for this product, because we would have told them NO THANK YOU.
My son has cerebral palsy, the type where he's "loose" rather than all drawn up. His school had these pieces of crap(or a precurser). He much preferred the regular keyboard, or using a mouse to click a virtual keyboard. He'll be thirty-five this year, and he has partial hearing loss as well, and speech to text isn't a possible alternative, unfortunately. He types decently enough on a regular keyboard, but his text will be full of errors and typos. His typing speed is really very slow, as well. Luckily he doesn't need to type often in his daily life, and doesn't have to send anyone letters. When he does, he just dictates for me to type.
I legit took a nap when you started with the typing test and woke up thinking the video was over and something else was playing, then I realized you were barely half way there.
I find input methods (keyboards, gamepads, mice, etc) designed for disabled people really fascinating. It's a shame so many of them seem really badly made or designed
Seems like a nice idea with bad implementation. I've run into poorly labeled, overly expensive hardware before in this space as well. The margins are not quite what you think, given the volume though. Although, printing some new stickers for the circular area around the controls really seems like it wouldn't cost enough to warrant not fixing the labeling.
I love that, on top of everything, this keyboard even slips on the table, so you do not forget that you are being tortured. Thanks for the """typing""" section.
I'm really glad you gave us the full asmr of muttering under your breath and clicking your tongue only to result in using a regular keyboard for the input. then trying in vain to type again. i had a good chuckle.
No matter how much Thomas complains, he's really starting to convince me of just how awesome this board is. I'm happy to hear that they still make them. I am so very tempted to get one. As for the incredible lightness of the case, some sort of non-conductive modelling putty would be really heavy and keep it on the desk. Presumably you can pop the case open and stick a kilo or two of it in there. Can anyone link me to the manual? I'd like to check that out first. P.S. The typing demo had me laughing. Excellent work!
I think the scam is: 1. Manufacture this for 50 cents 2. Sell it to people that have a hard time typing for $400 3. Ask them to fill out a 5-8 page form if they need to return it 4. Profit
Ahhhh, my second donation after the infamous 'Nightowl'. For me, this was the most amusing of Thomas' ordeals yet. I just hope we never meet in real life or he might stab me in the back, lol.
Interesting video. I actually think a well made, better designed, affordable and fixed version of this could be handy,. If they made one hand to use a simple, Enter, Delete, Space, Next, and the other hand to swipe the letter / character one wants, swiping as if they were writing that letter, would be massive faster and more reliable.
Listen, I've watched all of your videos. I've never been in so much pain watching you trying to type out a sentence on an input device before. I'm fuckin speechless
ngl that typing demonstration was the best thing about 2021, I thought you were going to just lose it at any second. I feel horrible for anybody having to need this.
I really like weird experimental keyboard concepts. Staggered columns, curved typing surfaces, weird tilts, separate pieces for different hands - all that is great. This is not.
Decades ago I worked with visually impaired persons and they all were super fast typing on regular keyboards since they couldn't cheat by looking so being forced to use correct finger placement made them very fast and accurate.
And some people get annoyed at loud switches. Imagine having this thing in your office. It sounds exactly like what it is, a cheap plastic (kids) toy. Hollow plastic parts that rub and bounce into each other. The only thing missing is the seam from the injection molding that nobody bothered to clean up and the impression would be complete. But in all seriousness, I can't imagine that anybody would be able to type fast on this. And it seems tiring. First, you need to use your entire arm (actually both) to type a single character. Then you need the opposite muscles too to restrain yourself so you don't shove this thing all over your desk all the time. And that in contrast to moving a single digit a few cm.
I'm jealous of Chyrosan because of his IQ. He has a huge vocabulary, chemistry Ph.D, strong analytic skills, complex personality, high head to body ratio. I photoshopped his head, side view, from his keyboard singing song and compared it to an average male head and his was about 15% longer, so around a 40% higher brain volume. My IQ was tested at a hospital and I scored 102, average. So his IQ is at least around 145. The difference is huge qualitatively - he speaks with no stutters, conjures huge words and complex expressions. Me? I'm just a stinky armpit 😔 but hey - at least my boyfriend is armpit fetish 🤣
The worst bit is, this with more refinement and changes could probably be a pretty good product. I mean, heck, I could probably turn it into a good product. The concept is a good idea; the execution though, is terrible. But I would like to think of a smaller model, that acts more like a joystick, where you have a few options on the front, maybe 6 or so, and then combine that with two of them, and make both of the thing's buttons to press (either one makes a key selection), perhaps you could make a good product. Any back movements I would probably delegate to function keys, and rarely used symbols, commands etc. AND for the love of God, the least that could be done is some small screens on the front, showing if you have the right or the left in this certain position, what possible combinations the left or right can make with it; saves you lots of time looking down, and should make it easier, since there is no colour coded shit, but the only available options. A chart with key combinations makes much more sense to have elevated on a slant in the middle than on one of the inputs; then you just memorize positions, not looking at them. Going further, you could create a number of keyboards based not on actual keys, but placement of multiple objects; combinations (some switch boards already do this, but you could theoretically make it faster). A keyboard made of a few sliders might be something; 1 slider per hand, maybe a modification key slider (for upper and lowercase, command, etc). Put a key on each of the slider nobs and you have an input. Easy combinations from there. I myself believe in the more keys, the better, but it is something I could definitely use in other products, or since one day I plan on making an extremely complicated (and massive, massive massive) keyboard [should be easy to use; complicated to make and design...], I could find some use potentially. [My inspirations were the Space Cadet board, and I believe it was also the Chyron keyboard (I think that is what it was called)]. Enough keys to map a few hundred mods in Minecraft at least; likely more!
I've known one person who uses one of these and mainly due to severe injuries. I think he got up to maybe 20wpm, and it does work for him, but now he mainly uses text to speech. Of note, I don't know whether yours is of a bad build quality or his was of a good one but the one you have should have never seen the light of day.
I'm glad that you reviewed this board. One of my coworkers has a daughter I believe with cerebral palsy and she doesn't have any ability to do fine motor movements so she can't use a mouse and relies on this keyboard. Because her movements can be quite erratic the fact that it stops input after you've made the selection is actually helpful to her. I definitely feel like better can be done as the quality is ****. He's told me that his daughter who went through college with them, but went through six or seven of them in the process. I can't imagine writing one paper with this.
Holy shit...
6 or 7??? omg, ah but it's okay as someone with disabilities I should know we are just made of money so no big deal right. -_-
Thanks for the comment, that was very interesting. I'm not surprised she went through that many, the quality really is abysmal.
Yikes!! I would have ended up getting a really high quality headset, and using voice to text at that point.
@@CommodoreFan64 Yeah, that's one of the things I was thinking about as well. It'd be much faster and more comfortable as well. Plus you get a nice headset out of it ^^ .
1.5wpm?! A morse operator can do 12wpm with ease on a single push button. Stephen Hawking could type faster with his left eyelid.
That's... actually a very good point.
Stephen Hawking was an atheist so the devil surely helped him with input.
Also, from my days in the navy, i can assure you that all morse code wizards are possessed by demons. To see that I'm right, record the emergency incoming message signal sequence and play it back in the middle of the night, you will see how the possessed jump up from bed and start throwing things at you and using foul language.
@@batner lmao
@@batner Nobody seems to realize that when they ask people to "save their souls", it's not a metaphor.
@@Lemon_Inspector Lol! Yep. That might be the reason why Sony Minidisk was so expensive.
As someone who is totally blind, let me just put it out there that I would not use this. I use a regular keyboard, no special adaptations, and I can type very fast. As in, greater than 120 words per minute. So, they’re trying to market this to blind people is absolutely ridiculous!
For the curious, I use a Matias Tactile Pro at home and Das Keyboard 4 Ultimate at work. The Matias is the bestKeyboard I've ever used, at least so far.
Do you have text to speech software to read what you wrote?
Yes, but that is to read the screen. I don’t need to be told what I just typed. I already know, since I typed it. Back when I was learning how to type, about 25 years ago, I did have it read back what I typed. I haven’t needed that in a very, very long time.
@@schmudej85 how do you know you've made any typos? Btw that's incredible that you type so fast with your disability, super inspiring!
Touch typists can have very low error rates. Completely zero vision people do make use of screen readers to review their work sometimes and if they are coding they can compile and let the compiler find typos.
It's really horrible that these companies are creating such terrible products under the guise of being suitable for people with disabilities.
If I had to guess I would say there was a masters thesis involved under the guise of a "research paper" and the joke went too far, far enough that a prototype was made, and then momentum carried that to production, and now some poor souls are looking at a stack of boxes they need to sell and a career built on lies.
It really just got out of control.
@@Daijyobanai Or patent trolling
That's why I like maltron
That's the problem with products made for the disabled, it's harder to source specific people for QA testing
@@Daijyobanai who takes a master thesis that seriously
I can now sense "WANING" from just looking at how keyboard looks.
The fact that they messed up the legends speaks for itself: they didn't even try using it themselves!
You could probably build a better version of this with an arcade stick kit. Two nice microswitch joysticks with 8-way gates.
If gripping the stick was a problem, you could probably swap it for a bigger 3d printed handle.
Yeah, definitely under 400 USD.
100% and we know that hardware already exists and will last decades... Add some nice big buttons for special functionality and maybe even a foot pedal or two for things like shift and space, this could be done soon much better it's painful.
with silicone boobs around the joystick and the nips for pushdown button. OrbiFondle 2.0 or the badtouch lol
This a very stupid comment. The reason that products like this cost so much, is, among other things, that they're low volume, this means either no mass production or it takes much longer to recoup investment in the machinery because fewer people are buying the products
@@annacrow9716 Herp derp, I could still make a much better device for much less money.
@@JanPospisilArt Unless you have actual experience getting a product from prototype to anything resembling mass production I'm calling bullshit.
Is like, an 8 minute typing demo in a review a record in length for Thomas? It honestly feels like it, I had to take a double take when I realized there were 8 minutes left at the end of the review!
Off the top of my head this is by far the longest typing demo I've ever done, yeah. Note that the length of the sentence is similar if not slightly shorter than other ones, too.
This felt like watching someone being "water boarded" for almost 9 minutes...
@@Chyrosran22 I can’t believe I sat through all of it, but this pain… this is nothing compared to what you had to suffer through for this review. Thank you.
I played it a 2x speed and it's still slow. I wonder if someone has mastered this keyboard?
@@IOSam Dude! My exact thought was "this is like a medieval torture device!" 🤣
I have arthritis and can confirm that I've used a mouse by basically just moving and clicking with the heel of my hand/side of my thumb before. Would definitely work better than the "mouse" feature of this, I think.
It makes me sad that things like this are marketed at disabled people and are so shoddy. I'm thankful that my arthritis is usually excellently controlled by medication, because constantly needing to buy overpriced aids that are plastic pieces of crap would sure drain the wallet.
That thing also slides around an ABSURD amount, judging by your demo. You'd have to glue it to the damn table or something.
My friend has ALS and lost dexterity in his hands. Me moved to speech typing for a bit, but then lost control of his mouth. He got this device and was able to communicate for a little longer, albeit super slow. This device gave him the ability to communicate for the last few months of his life, albeit so/too slow. Your demonstration at the end of the video was about 10 to 20 times faster than what he was doing. But it was all he had at that point.
My god… in your dark trailer it actually looked really cool and sophisticated. In the light, it looks like it’s made by LJN.
LJN? What is this, a crossover episode?
Laughing joking numb-nuts have their fingers in everything.
@@akbg "WHAT WERE THEY THINKING??"
9:09 the imperial units just keep getting better
*obesity units
I suppose, in theory, if one had the legend memorized and the sensitivities/weights on the movements weren't dog shit, one could actually type relatively fast on this. There are people that choose to play Dark souls with a banana or a flightstick or what have you after all.
But I'd think a Touchpad with defined quadrants (and a customizable hold sensitivity) and using a center tap for modifiers (tap once for caps, twice for punctuation, etc) would be far more practical for people with disabilities.
Even a layered numpad with a large modifier along the side and a 'spacebar' under it would actually be more practical than this for most, I think. It was certainly more practical when I set up a keypad that way than the 'handicapable' boards I played around with out of curiosity.
I really want to see an Orbitouch master demonstrate what, well, mastery of this board looks like. Instead of just them claiming someone can reach 50WPM, show it to us.
The steam big picture mode includes a way to type with a controller. You select one of 8 sectors with the left stick and each sector has 4 keys that you access with the ABXY buttons. Space, backspace and modifiers are on the shoulder buttons.
It's honestly quite comfortable to use for searching something on youtube, give it a shot. You could probably rig up something appropriate for disabled people with the same system and I reckon it would be possible to get 30WPM out of it.
I feel that thing would be made obsolete by a simple eye or head tracking setup using a webcam and free software, mapped to a virtual keyboard.
It might've been good when it just came out, 5-10 years ago or whatever, but technology progressed a lot since and there are way better solutions available now.
@@TheNightquaker The problem with that is that anything you could rig up isn't extremely accurate and that it's slow. Most things don't require high framerates, a tesla runs at 20fps for example.
That means that there is hardly any hardware that could track eyes well enough.
Also, you can't look at anything else while typing and that's a huge disadvantage.
Honestly, I think with changes and if the product wasn't shit, it could actually be good.
Make it smaller, and change it so that only front selections are used for normal keys; make it more like a gamepad (circular motions, not jabs) and have it so that when you press either of them, that registers as a click; theoretically, it would be similar to the swipe digital keyboards on devices now, and some people could use it quite fast; your fingers theoretically move less if you are not a touch typist (I know I'm not, but I can type real fast on the mechanical; I am more like a piano typist, if you get my drift). Back swipes use for commands and the stuff.
An improvement would probably also be a printed legend on front; better yet, also screen with the possible positions on each input, showing where when you have the left (or the right) joystick in one position, the other positions on the right (left) give this.
The good thing about this keyboard is it gave me a lot of theoretical keyboard concepts; such as a sliding keyboard, where you have 2 or more sliders (I'd probably have a modify key slider) with multiple positions on it; those positions all make a combination, that makes a scan code.
As someone who is blind, I can't even begin to IMAGINE using something like this. I feel about this the way that most people would probably feel about watching me use a braille machine to input. In other words, WTF?
I see your point. As somebody who is also blind I'd rather just speech to text my way around to watch CZcams videos, even all the YTP. I'd rather have people hearing my search history than use this piece of junk any day.
Maybe we should send him an orbit writer to try. That would be a fun video.
@@Ebinspurdo People don't need to hear your speech. Just use headphones.
@@sockhopsinger how are these blind people watching the video , reading and typing these comments?
@@bazahaza Either on their phones or computers using either software that reads the screen or other hardware that turns screen output, apart from graphics, into braille. I am using speech to read screen contents. That's why I only follow channels where the owner actually knows how to describe things. :)
That 'typing' demo was hilarious.
And painful to watch.
I saw the length and expected one hell of a tirade until I noticed how long the typing demo was going to be.
I finished reading all the comments and he's still going at it. A great review of a really crappy product.
For a few minutes, I sat there wondering what this creation reminded me of, and then it hit me: index typewriters, a class of very early keyless writing machines where you manually selected the character you wanted - by rotating a disc, moving a pointer, or some other method - and then actuated its strike onto the paper. A cheaper but short-lived alternative to proper keyboard-based machines. (Examples: Mignon, World, Hall.) Would love to see Thomas try to cope with those, although they're rather outside his universe.
That typing demonstration is the most satisfying thing I've seen in a long time. It deserves its own video so I can watch it on repeat.
4:15 "Im something of a cripple myself"
The idea of chorded typing on 2 8 directional joysticks is actually really good in theory, if you actually take your time and learn all of the chords, you wouldn't need to look at "the board" to type, it also shouldn't be too much slower than regular typing as you basically need to do 1 action per keystroke, unlike typing with a dpad for example, where you need to spend a lot of time pecking for the key. And has the advantage of beeing very static, unlike regular keyboard where you need to move your hands across the keyboard, a lot, as well as reaching for the mouse, and the lower percision need to opirate a device like that, could meen you would be able to also type with your legs. Could have been very cool for a lazy setup couch setup, where you generaly operate everything with a controller (gyro for cursor input), but can acausally type with your stincking feet, with no need to get lost of the controller ever. But sadely the execution of it all isn't that good, with cheap built quality, joystick that aren't bound to the 8 exclusively needed directions, requiring more percision, horible mouse mode, and the handles design showing that creators clearly didn't think of it beeing operated by the legs.
It's going to be slower since you're returning after every "keystroke" - I'd think it would be comparable to one-finger typing on a regular keyboard, certainly not as fast as touch-typing. And operating it with feet sounds annoying - you'd need a pretty heavy base to keep the thing from moving as you push the joystick around with your feet, and something like a set of pads or even a basic pedal combined with the controller sounds like a better idea.
@@maciejstachowski183 Actually if the characters match with the first or second joystick position, you won't need to move that, and even you did, chords are still a lot fatser then 1fingering a keyboard, as it requires alot more percision, and is a lot less static, as well as being really frustraiting. And foot pedals give you a lot less funcionality / key combination. I think i've made my point that it could work really well in theory, but is implemented poorly.
Steam’s big picture mode included it as a typing option and it actually worked really well on that. Wish my PS4 had it
Consider that you can actuate 5 keys at once with a single hand while the dual joysticks would limit you to a maximum of two disregarding macros. Someone with a single hand would fare better using a smaller keyboard that allows them to access all the keys without moving their hand. Maybe a 40% macro keyboard would suit them better.
@@BrunodeSouzaLino well it's not aiming ot be a 1 hand keyboard. A half qwerty keyboard is better suited for that type of purpose
Everyone's gangsta with their 150WPM unitil Orbitouch brings them down to tears... 😂
I'd love to see if any of the developers of this thing actually use this on a daily basis.
Using it for a while causes pain. The ultimate in ergonomics.
This is probably the longest typing demo to date. Love these ergonomic keyboard videos.
This would now be a perfect time to do a Top X Worst Keyboards of All Time. From the Fold 2000, NightOwl, ErgoDex, and ZX Spectrum to the OrbiTouch, Maltron and the MyFirstKeyboard as well as the ungodly evil that is the Laser Projector Keyboard. I think you have more than enough material for such a video. Something like that would make even the hateful Smith Corona leafspring bag of bolts feel loved. 😅😅😅😅
My favorite will always be the good ole Fold 2000 lol. I'd love to see that showdown, what's the best worst keyboard and which is truly the worst?
@@SonicBoone56 The Laser Keyboard video is pretty high on the shit-o-meter. My favorite "worst" keyboard has to be the Keyboard Origami one with Maxi DwS switches just for him failing to contain his laughter 😆
You... you think the ErgoDox belongs in the same category as the OrbiTouch, Fold 2000, MyFirstKeyboard and Nightowl?! I don't think Thomas's review, as a known ergo-board hater, even gave that impression. It's one of the best keyboards I've used, and I own a Model F. :D Don't give in to the ergo-hate, they're not all ridiculous as this example.
I totally agree otherwise though, that's a great idea for a video.
@@jb_lofi I didn't exactly categorized them as such... Also I mispelled. It was the ErgoDex, the shit he reviewed last year. And probably I would have categorized them for being Rubber based.
@@zakutenakazumiya1516 That one must have been so unremarkable and shite I don't even remember it... So maybe it's does deserve to be in that category 😂
I've struggled just as much as Thomas did, while watching him type on that board!
I'm at hospital but this is what I needed to brighten up my day
Hope you feel better and don't laugh too hard at Thomas' reviews (or if you do, go watch his EZ keyboard review lol).
I like how the typing demo is actually almost as long as the atcual video
Just from the thumbnail I could tell this is going to be a good one
I'm a little surprised that you didn't say anything about the typing sound. You constantly talk about Cherry switches being scratchy and terrible, but they are silky smooth compared to this thing. Also, I really would have liked to hear your reaction if it were RGB backlit.
Finally, where does this thing fall in your list of worst keyboards ever?
lmao a rgb orbitouch is the same as a rgb toilet, both are still shitty
Wanted to test a thing, so I enabled OSK and click assist (hover for a bit =click ) and it feels so much better than whatever this is, checks all the boxes in terms of a11y AND can be used one handed. This comment was written with that.
I was just thinking OSK with sensitivity set appropriately for a user would undoubtedly be better and at least you can look at what your typing instead of staring down at the board in an attempt to learn it...
steam had a "flower" keyboard for a while in big picture mode, that you use with a controller. I actually quite liked it. it's like this, but without the boobs, and better in every conceivable way. it still sucked enough that they removed it from steam, but you can still find pictures online
I remember Linus did a review of this “keyboard” quite a while ago…
Never have I clicked so fast.
Thanks for making this video mate. This is the first time I actually laughed at a CZcams video in ages!
Normally I’d be pleased if half of the video was a typing demonstration
once again an example of "The theory is sound, the implementation is horrendous" Leaving the legend of an entire set of keys is not exactly good quality control on a keyboard. It's like removing the legend off of all the keys and then giving it to someone who's never used a keyboard before and telling them to type an essay on it.
I watched the whole typing demo and the worst part is the sound of cheap plastic being rubbed and hit together. It’s so bad
I have no idea how I ended up on this video, but good lordt this voice AND the humor are melting me
Holy shit that's the best typing demonstration ever.
Especially this part 13:09
"God, what the fuck!"
As an Assistive Technology specialist, this is a primary example of what not to build. I and my colleagues are continually enraged by designs that are marketed as "ergonomic" and "assistive technology" which I put in quotations as no one from either complimentary field worked on this. Products like this also tend to be more expensive, have less technical support, are less intuitive, and are more prone to wear & damage. All of this is detrimental to individuals with disabilities or chronic illnesses. From a low vision perspective, there is nothing that orients the user, and the keyboard "layout" is subjective, meaning it doesn't have individual inputs for keys. From a disability use perspective, it takes more work and control to operate, so those with muscular, cognitive, or neurological disabilities and illnesses will have greater difficulty using it.
This seems to be nothing but a "what if" concept product which was seen by an overzealous and ignorant marketing executive. It is incredibly obvious that an ergonomics specialist, Assistive Technology specialist or professional, or anyone certified through RESNA, NCART, or IAAP were consulted for this product, because we would have told them NO THANK YOU.
This keyboard kind of reminds me of those directional locks
I see a new chyrosran video in my recommended, don't realize it's new. AND there's a waning intro?
This is amazing
His voice along with the verbal insults is actually pretty funny for some reason
My son has cerebral palsy, the type where he's "loose" rather than all drawn up.
His school had these pieces of crap(or a precurser). He much preferred the regular keyboard, or using a mouse to click a virtual keyboard.
He'll be thirty-five this year, and he has partial hearing loss as well, and speech to text isn't a possible alternative, unfortunately.
He types decently enough on a regular keyboard, but his text will be full of errors and typos.
His typing speed is really very slow, as well.
Luckily he doesn't need to type often in his daily life, and doesn't have to send anyone letters.
When he does, he just dictates for me to type.
I legit took a nap when you started with the typing test and woke up thinking the video was over and something else was playing, then I realized you were barely half way there.
I find input methods (keyboards, gamepads, mice, etc) designed for disabled people really fascinating. It's a shame so many of them seem really badly made or designed
Seems like a nice idea with bad implementation. I've run into poorly labeled, overly expensive hardware before in this space as well. The margins are not quite what you think, given the volume though. Although, printing some new stickers for the circular area around the controls really seems like it wouldn't cost enough to warrant not fixing the labeling.
I've been waiting for this one
I love that, on top of everything, this keyboard even slips on the table, so you do not forget that you are being tortured. Thanks for the """typing""" section.
I'm really glad you gave us the full asmr of muttering under your breath and clicking your tongue only to result in using a regular keyboard for the input. then trying in vain to type again. i had a good chuckle.
No matter how much Thomas complains, he's really starting to convince me of just how awesome this board is.
I'm happy to hear that they still make them. I am so very tempted to get one.
As for the incredible lightness of the case, some sort of non-conductive modelling putty would be really heavy and keep it on the desk. Presumably you can pop the case open and stick a kilo or two of it in there.
Can anyone link me to the manual? I'd like to check that out first.
P.S. The typing demo had me laughing. Excellent work!
I noticed during the typing demonstration, the only key he had a real handle on was the backspace, I bet he had to use that alot.
Best most illustrative typing demo yet
I just have to say, your audio is *CRISP*. Very refreshing
I think the scam is:
1. Manufacture this for 50 cents
2. Sell it to people that have a hard time typing for $400
3. Ask them to fill out a 5-8 page form if they need to return it
4. Profit
The tactility seems great though, I mean the thing moves with each keystroke, that's a solid bump.
I clicked as soon as I got the notif, was definitely worth it.
Ahhhh, my second donation after the infamous 'Nightowl'. For me, this was the most amusing of Thomas' ordeals yet. I just hope we never meet in real life or he might stab me in the back, lol.
Heheh, well, in fairness, you gave me two things good enough to make trailers for, so there's that xD .
I come back to this video whenever I want to laugh hysterically for a few minutes, jfc the narration is so perfect
I know this horrendus keyboard from linus tech tips
Honestly i dont even watch the videos to see the reviews, i find your reviews HILARIOUS..
Never thought keyboard review could be so funny and entertaining 😀
Interesting video. I actually think a well made, better designed, affordable and fixed version of this could be handy,. If they made one hand to use a simple, Enter, Delete, Space, Next, and the other hand to swipe the letter / character one wants, swiping as if they were writing that letter, would be massive faster and more reliable.
Instant i saw the thumbnail i knew. So glad i’m early.
The smooth buttery voice combined with the Critikal-level descriptive nature has gotten me interested more than the keyboard
Holy shit that typing demo was painful (yet hilarious) to watch. Thank you for your service.
Are those input buttons(?) motorized? If they are, it would probably make a better foot massager than a keyboard lol
The most painful funnest struggle typing I have ever seen. So comical to me
Writing the letter demanding your money back takes longer than the warranty lasts. Love the creative language. 'Rain dance' was my favourite.
Just waiting until chyros tries a chording keyboard, that'll be a treat.
Listen, I've watched all of your videos. I've never been in so much pain watching you trying to type out a sentence on an input device before. I'm fuckin speechless
Yo this is a legendary rant, love it.
Plz more
I can feel your pain through my screen with that typing demo.
I'm impressed by your advanced vocabulary
This most "colourful" review and description of this THING just made my day.
This would be the perfect last boss for an escape room party; especially if you charge room rental by the hour.
ngl that typing demonstration was the best thing about 2021, I thought you were going to just lose it at any second. I feel horrible for anybody having to need this.
This is not 400 dollars typing sound though.
Hilarious as always! Can I ask what model is the Logitech mouse featured at the end?
Just a simple M705 :) .
I think I could forgive it just a bit if the build quality didn't sound horrible. The noises it makes sound so hollow and cheap.
(7:20) A joystick has 360° rotation, even the d-pad has 8 directions. I'm not sure what you mean.
I love these angry reviews. You're like the AVGN of keyboards, but you're actually funny!
WHAT WERE THEY THINKING!???!??
I really like weird experimental keyboard concepts.
Staggered columns, curved typing surfaces, weird tilts, separate pieces for different hands - all that is great.
This is not.
After listening only two minutes to you, I already needed to sub. You sir, are hilarious
You know something is wrong when the typing demo is almost as long as the main part itself.
Decades ago I worked with visually impaired persons and they all were super fast typing on regular keyboards since they couldn't cheat by looking so being forced to use correct finger placement made them very fast and accurate.
And some people get annoyed at loud switches. Imagine having this thing in your office. It sounds exactly like what it is, a cheap plastic (kids) toy. Hollow plastic parts that rub and bounce into each other. The only thing missing is the seam from the injection molding that nobody bothered to clean up and the impression would be complete.
But in all seriousness, I can't imagine that anybody would be able to type fast on this. And it seems tiring.
First, you need to use your entire arm (actually both) to type a single character. Then you need the opposite muscles too to restrain yourself so you don't shove this thing all over your desk all the time. And that in contrast to moving a single digit a few cm.
Her: Where did you learn to grab em like that...
Him:
I'm jealous of Chyrosan because of his IQ. He has a huge vocabulary, chemistry Ph.D, strong analytic skills, complex personality, high head to body ratio. I photoshopped his head, side view, from his keyboard singing song and compared it to an average male head and his was about 15% longer, so around a 40% higher brain volume. My IQ was tested at a hospital and I scored 102, average. So his IQ is at least around 145. The difference is huge qualitatively - he speaks with no stutters, conjures huge words and complex expressions. Me? I'm just a stinky armpit 😔 but hey - at least my boyfriend is armpit fetish 🤣
He deletes the bloopers
*cromartie high school voice* "What a soothing voice he has"
Have you opened it up; how does it work, does it have micro switches or something?
The worst bit is, this with more refinement and changes could probably be a pretty good product. I mean, heck, I could probably turn it into a good product.
The concept is a good idea; the execution though, is terrible.
But I would like to think of a smaller model, that acts more like a joystick, where you have a few options on the front, maybe 6 or so, and then combine that with two of them, and make both of the thing's buttons to press (either one makes a key selection), perhaps you could make a good product. Any back movements I would probably delegate to function keys, and rarely used symbols, commands etc.
AND for the love of God, the least that could be done is some small screens on the front, showing if you have the right or the left in this certain position, what possible combinations the left or right can make with it; saves you lots of time looking down, and should make it easier, since there is no colour coded shit, but the only available options. A chart with key combinations makes much more sense to have elevated on a slant in the middle than on one of the inputs; then you just memorize positions, not looking at them.
Going further, you could create a number of keyboards based not on actual keys, but placement of multiple objects; combinations (some switch boards already do this, but you could theoretically make it faster).
A keyboard made of a few sliders might be something; 1 slider per hand, maybe a modification key slider (for upper and lowercase, command, etc). Put a key on each of the slider nobs and you have an input. Easy combinations from there.
I myself believe in the more keys, the better, but it is something I could definitely use in other products, or since one day I plan on making an extremely complicated (and massive, massive massive) keyboard [should be easy to use; complicated to make and design...], I could find some use potentially. [My inspirations were the Space Cadet board, and I believe it was also the Chyron keyboard (I think that is what it was called)]. Enough keys to map a few hundred mods in Minecraft at least; likely more!
Watching this video without sound, it feels like the presenter is a magician doing a trick
I imagine a dystopian world where you are investigating an abandoned building and you only hear the faint shuffling of this keyboard.
Now, with up to 5 characters per minute!
Your voice sounds very nice, I thought it was ASMR at first
I've known one person who uses one of these and mainly due to severe injuries. I think he got up to maybe 20wpm, and it does work for him, but now he mainly uses text to speech. Of note, I don't know whether yours is of a bad build quality or his was of a good one but the one you have should have never seen the light of day.
Thanks for the dedication.... I honestly expected you to give up on the demonstration. That was painful to watch.
Is it me or you could just use a dualshock to have the same keyboard but better ?