It’s not done yet, but I figured I’d show off a little bit since I have been using this for a few weeks now. This is the “swirl”. It’s heavily inspired by the helix with some notable changes:
- mbk Choc Spacing (Dimensions are about 12.5cm x 8.5cm on either half)
- Reversible roller encoders on the top inner switch
Because this allows you to keep the halves further apart, which is considered more ergonomical.
Typically, each half can, in fact, be used independently (they each have their own microcontroller).
why cords? why not two separate wireless devices?
Because then things like holding shift on one half and a letter on the other wouldn’t work.
if those issues could be solved by software drivers would the cord free aesthetic be preferred?
In a perfect world, yeah totally. I could use controllers that are approximately twice the price (nice!nanos) and have to rewrite the firmware (qmk -> zmk) and deal with Bluetooth, or I could just use wires and have it “just work™”. I personally prefer this, but tons of people go the wireless route.