Hiya all. I was wondering what pointing options there were out there for split ergo keyboards? Looking around, on the face of it there seems to be the Apple Magic Trackpad 2 and well that’s about it. There seem to be plenty of trackballs at various prices but nothing that looks particularly small and nondescript.
I will give mouse keys a try but I am really not convinced. If I could get my little Chromebook to display RDP colours correctly it may be that having a touchscreen would do just fine as an alternative.
What about something like this?
https://www.amazon.com/Touchpad-Trackpad-Portable-Notebook-Desktop/dp/B0B21V9SYC/ref=sr_1_18?crid=1PQJP5YH98Z13&keywords=trackpad+module&qid=1689719215&sprefix=trackpad+module%2Caps%2C182&sr=8-18
It’s about 8cm2, USB, and ~US$26.
This one is similar and supports multitouch:
https://www.amazon.com/Perixx-PERIPAD-501-Professional-Wired-Touchpad/dp/B001CX85I8/ref=sr_1_31?crid=1PQJP5YH98Z13&keywords=trackpad+module&qid=1689719495&sprefix=trackpad+module%2Caps%2C182&sr=8-31
This one is more expensive, but it’s tiny (35x28mm) and even shown stuck in the middle of an ergonomic keyboard, but also it’s PS/2:
https://www.amazon.com/Smallest-Computer-Touchpad-Trackpad-ETP001MTPPS2/dp/B087WQXTRG/ref=sr_1_52?crid=1PQJP5YH98Z13&keywords=trackpad+module&qid=1689719634&sprefix=trackpad+module%2Caps%2C182&sr=8-52
Yeah, I have seen all of them. I’m not going to discount them completely because they are on the small side, but they do all seem to be from the land that time forgot and almost designed for kiosks or something like that? As you say one has a PS/2 connector. Mice have come on leaps and bounds with support for multiple bluetooth profiles, great tracking and so on. I guess there is very little demand for trackpads.
As separate devices from finished consumer electronics, yes not much demand. What does the solution you have in mind look like though, if not a trackpad and buttons mounted in its own housing?
If you’re handy with electronics and microcontrollers, you might be able to build what you want using one of these sensors: https://bela.io/products/trill/
Oh those look like fun. It might be a bit beyond me right now - the combination of everything - but yeah for the future I quite fancy that.