We get a lot of questions about why our keyboards are flat. After all, curved keyboards are the "best" for ergonomics, aren't they?
Curving the keyboard is considered “ergonomic” because it is a mechanical way to reduce reach. When you have many keys, curving them helps.
In the “olden days” when every key did just one thing, this approach made sense. Today, we have advanced keyboard firmware with layers, combos, multi-function keys, and many other features. This means that each key can do much more than one thing, so we have a simpler way to minimize reach: Have fewer keys!
A curved Voyager
The Voyager is our most opinionated take on this fewer keys idea, and while we're happy with the Voyager being flat, if you're really interested in a curved keyboard, now the Voyager can do that, too.
I designed a set of keycap adapters for the Voyager that curves everything into a bowl shape. It's more along the lines of sculpted keycaps than a true keywell, but if you're looking for a happy medium, this might be for you.
You can find all the files and some printing guidance in the guide. Alternatively, you can always get parts like this printed from an online service and shipped to you.
Mix and match
You can use all of the adapters or just some of them— maybe you only want your number row curved inwards, for example. Or you could even install just the “inner bottom” keys to get an “extra” thumb key.
Some drawbacks
If you choose to experiment with this DIY “bowl” solution, there are a few things to keep in mind:
- These adapters do increase the height of the board quite a bit. You can theoretically still travel with it in the Voyager's carrying case, but it's a much tighter fit and you'd want to be very careful while packing it up. This design is best for Voyagers that are stationary most of the time.
- The keys wobble! Especially the taller ones. You can rest your finger on a key and make it move around like a wiggly tooth. The keys still work, of course.
- Obviously, the adapters go between the switch and the keycap, which means the light will not shine through the keycap.
- You can break a keycap and/or have pieces lodged in a keyswitch. I’ve taken special care to keep this from happening when designing these files, but it still might — a lot depends on your printer and your technique while installing and removing these. Be sure to push and pull them as straight up and down on the keycap as possible.
Special thanks
Special thanks to Thomas Tse (tomtomthing) for the design inspiration and to Joseph Lee for sharing his version of this on the Voyager which inspired this project.
If you decide to give this a try, feel free to share with others and send us pictures! We'd love to hear what you think.
A bonus adapter
I didn't have enough to say about this idea to warrant a whole blog post, but if you're in the market for interesting Voyager keycap adapters, I have another design that lets you use MX keycaps with Choc switches. It looks like this:
If you have a favorite MX keycap set and don't mind the additional height, give it a try!
