Paul's Cogito split keyboard uses 36 keys across 50 design iterations to fix what a 19th-century typewriter got wrong about human hands.
Each finger column is individually angled and height-adjusted: ring finger keys sit higher, index columns angle inward. Each thumb controls 3 keys, one being the spacebar, the other two layer-switchers. That layer system is the only reason the total key count drops to 36 without sacrificing function. Low-profile switches and the split form factor keep it portable.
The real argument here is not about this one keyboard. It is about the conventional spacebar consuming both thumbs for a single function while ergonomics suffer. The original writeup details every iteration of the column geometry and thumb cluster placement, which is where the actual engineering decisions live.
[READ ORIGINAL →]