Skip to step two if you already know who I am and what a chording keyboard is. They are more interesting than me.

First things first, this is a computer keyboard and it types every letter you can find on a standard keyboard.

A chording keyboard is a device which relies on pressing multiple keys at once, similar to playing a chord on a guitar. Since combinations are possible chording keyboards have fewer keys than a standard keyboard. Some people even argue that because you don't have to move your fingers for each keystroke you can type faster. My argument is that fewer keys make this highly portable. The ergonomics of this device have been abandoned in favor of a highly portable keyboard. This device, the size of a computer mouse, is a full keyboard AND mouse. Not only that but it's Bluetooth 4.0 so it pairs up nicely with a mobile phone. BLE sound expensive? The Bluetooth module can be left out and it will work on USB with no changes to the code. That way you can try the keyboard with your regular computer to see if the Bluetooth is valuable to you. Heck, just use the programming and build your own keys, I'd love to see your desktop version of this keyboard.

Much of the credit for this project go to Greg Priest-Dorman who did it all first. His lessons on typing with the chording keyboard are better than I could write so I recommend them. I wrote the program for this project in Arduino's IDE but the charts I used for the key combinations were made by Greg. He developed it, I copied it, make yourself a copy from our work.

This project involves pretty ordinary materials but a few things, like liquid tape and a 3D printer might not be in your garage. Schematics are included so if you don't have a 3D printer it is possible to build your own, in fact, Greg's site has a few ideas on how to make a comfortable keyboard.

This project started very differently than it ended. The original design was going to be solely wrist-mounted, complex, lots of moving parts, servo motors, and a cabling system. That was dumb so I didn't do it. Despite my best efforts at being dumb. Check out my blog if you want to see the day-by-day trials and mishaps of this project. It took me three months to arrive at this design. And a lot of spent printer filament.

This keyboard is part of a cyberpunk costume I'm assembling. I wanted to have a futuristic/cinematic feel to the costume parts but I also want to have functional props. I could just hold some buttons glued to block and say it's a keyboard but I'd rather be able to type text messages with it.

Stay tuned for more costume parts including a lock pick holder that straps to your forearm for easy access. You'll have to source your own lock picks though.