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ideal keyboard

logitec K380 would be the closest to the ideal form factor (small, slim, lightweight, comfortable to use).

logitec MX-mechanical mini has a quite good key layout (except fn key to be windows key instead)

MINI 84 PRO WHITE also features a great layout (with nice extra features such as custom layer and mouse emulation)

examples

Here is a bunch of examples of what I think could be awesome layouts. If the device supports QMK, then we could even forget about the shown mapping.

esc prtSc F1 b1 F2 b2 F3 b3 F4 b4 F5 F6 F7 F8 F9 F10 F11 F12 vol-mic- vol+mic+ del ins `~ 1!πŸ–±β‡’ 2@πŸ–±β‡‰ 3#πŸ–±β‡Ά 4$ 5% 6^ 7&7 8*8 9(9 0)/ -_ =+ ⌫ home tab QπŸ–±βš™z- WπŸ–±βš™β‡§ EπŸ–±βš™z+ R T Y U4 I5 O6 P* [{ ]} ⏎ end caps AπŸ–±βš™β‡¦ SπŸ–±βš™β‡© DπŸ–±βš™β‡¨ F G H J1 K2 L3 ;:- '"num \|πŸ–±lock PgUpπŸ–±M shift \| Z X C V B N M0 ,<. .>⏎ /?+ shiftπŸ–±L β‡§πŸ–±β‡§ PgDnπŸ–±R fn1 ctrl win menu alt space fn2 alt grπŸ–±fast win menu ctrl β‡¦πŸ–±β‡¦ β‡©πŸ–±β‡© β‡¨πŸ–±β‡¨

Somewhere between ISO and ANSI ? + more keys ?

esc prtSc F1 b1 F2 b2 F3 b3 F4 b4 F5 F6 F7 F8 F9 F10 F11 F12 mutemute vol-mic- vol+mic+ `~ 1!πŸ–±β‡’ 2@πŸ–±β‡‰ 3#πŸ–±β‡Ά 4$ 5% 6^ 7&7 8*8 9(9 0)/ -_ =+ ⌫ del ins home tab QπŸ–±βš™z- WπŸ–±βš™β‡§ EπŸ–±βš™z+ R T Y U4 I5 O6 P* [{ ]} πŸ˜€ end caps AπŸ–±βš™β‡¦ SπŸ–±βš™β‡© DπŸ–±βš™β‡¨ F G H J1 K2 L3 ;:- '"num \|πŸ–±lock ⏎ PgUpπŸ–±M shift \| Z X C V B N M0 ,<. .>⏎ /?+ shiftπŸ–±L β‡§πŸ–±β‡§ PgDnπŸ–±R fn1 ctrl win menu alt space fn2 alt grπŸ–±fast win menu ctrl β‡¦πŸ–±β‡¦ β‡©πŸ–±β‡© β‡¨πŸ–±β‡¨

Alternative keys disposition (but it would break my janko layout)

esc prtSc F1 b1 F2 b2 F3 b3 F4 b4 F5 F6 F7 F8 F9 F10 F11 F12 vol-mic- vol+mic+ delins `~ 1!πŸ–±β‡’ 2@πŸ–±β‡‰ 3#πŸ–±β‡Ά 4$ 5% 6^ 7&7 8*8 9(9 0)/ -_ =+ ⌫ fn3 tab QπŸ–±βš™z- WπŸ–±βš™β‡§ EπŸ–±βš™z+ R T Y U4 I5 O6 P* [{ ]} ⏎ home caps AπŸ–±βš™β‡¦ SπŸ–±βš™β‡© DπŸ–±βš™β‡¨ F G H J1 K2 L3 ;:- '"num \|πŸ–±lock endπŸ–±M shift \| Z X C V B N M0 ,<. .>⏎ /?+ shift PgUpπŸ–±L ⇧ πŸ–±β‡§ PgDnπŸ–±R fn1 ctrl win menu alt space fn2 alt grπŸ–±fast win menu ctrl β‡¦πŸ–±β‡¦ β‡©πŸ–±β‡© β‡¨πŸ–±β‡¨

considerations for layout

ctrl win alt shift fn adjacency chosen so that many combinations can be hit with a single finger.

Choose dimensions so that the keyboard is as small as possible for transport, but also to make it possible to hit as many combination as possible with a single hand, while keeping it easy to type with no collisions.

ctrl win alt space alt-gr win ctrl windows key on both sides.

fn to the right side allows better single hand access to more keys around (such as arrows).

home end pgup pgdn as individual keys without fn

1 1.5 2 spacebar ⏎ minimize key cap size variety.

fn unlocks a numpad on the keyboard because 7 β‰  numpad 7 (for blender).

realistic hardware features

Thin, lightweight, quiet (ie not mechanical) like K380

Bluetooth support

USB support with replaceable cable (allow to use battery-less when cable powering it)

A led for caps-lock, fn-lock, etc... capslock led is useful to tell if the computer crashed.

Sci-fi ideas

QMK support.

Any key combination is valid (for better human computer interfacing)

Some keys have different textures so that it's easy to feel where we are.

The keyboard is an USB hub, has usb-C ports all around with charge through.

Put an SSD in to allow copy on the keyboard, and paste on another device (safety/privacy issue though)

Make it a power bank (with serviceable battery).

Put volume buttons on the side like on a phone.

Put a jack port (and an USB sound card) to compensate for phone/tablet.

Make ⏎ or space large and a touchpad so that we could space touchpadπŸ–± alt-grπŸ–±L win πŸ–±R ctrl πŸ–±M

Make it easy to service (all parts are sold separately, so that one would keep it for a very long time).