AutoHotkey Community

[q335r49]

I know this is a trivial "script", but I don't think I've encountered this anywhere yet:

[tazmanian]

I came up with the exact same idea and it was kind of based on the vim editor which I tried using for one day but I found it too difficult.

here is the post:

http://www.autohotkey.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=161486#161486

The major difference with mine is that if I hold down the caps lock key then I can use the i for up without changing the mode. That is, I am combining the two modes.

Also mine uses icons for representing the current mode if you are unsure as to what you are doing.

[JDN]

May I ask what application is it that you are using when you make the most use out of these keys?

And what applications do you spend most of your time using?

I ask because I have spent a lot of time studying the issue of minimizing hand movement when working on the keyboard and think I might be able to make some suggestions to you depending on what you usually do when you have your hands on the keyboard.

I once designed a system for someone who only had the use of one hand. It was a real eye opener in terms of how wasteful the current approach to keyboarding is. The topic you are considering is a real fun topic. I envy you. That project was the most fun I ever had.

[q335r49]

Yeah, it is an interesting question... the question of minimzing hand movement may be a bit limited in scope, I remember seeing these people attempting to engineering the most offecient keyboard layout given a certain langauge. The difficulty they faced was that "hand movement" in touch typing leads to questions like, is it better to put frequently adjascent letters on one hand or two? Is it better to have them in the same row? etc. The actual engineering aspect is probably trivial (I think that one of them used a genetic algorithm) compared to the various insights that one makes beforehand regarding what "Minimizing" means.

Modal input may be part of this question. Vi clearly minizes input, but requires you to shift between various modes. But modal input is not 'natural', one doesn't think "Oh, now I navigate" or "Oh, now I do X" -- but rather, it is simply another system of memorization, it seems. I think, that the major difference between Vi and non Vi may be that the former uses single keys while the latter uses chorded keys. On the end opposite a multi-modal input, I can imagine a keyboard with like 10 super keys -- perhaps what JDN is dealing with for one-handed input, i.e., a comparatively larger number of super keys like Ctrl or Win.

Anyways, any insight into what "Minimizing" may mean is probably the most interesting question...