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 alt gr win menu ctrl πŸ–±fast fn2 β‡¦πŸ–±β‡¦ β‡©πŸ–±β‡© β‡¨πŸ–±β‡¨

alternative keys disposition

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)/ -_ =+ ⌫ fn2 tab QπŸ–±βš™z- WπŸ–±βš™β‡§ EπŸ–±βš™z+ R T Y U4 I5 O6 P* [{ ]} ⏎ homeπŸ–±fast 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 alt gr win menu ctrl β‡¦πŸ–±β‡¦ β‡©πŸ–±β‡© β‡¨πŸ–±β‡¨

force number row offset, and add a button

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)/ -_ =+ ⌫ delins fn2 tab QπŸ–±βš™z- WπŸ–±βš™β‡§ EπŸ–±βš™z+ R T Y U4 I5 O6 P* [{ ]} ⏎ homeπŸ–±fast 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 alt gr win menu ctrl β‡¦πŸ–±β‡¦ β‡©πŸ–±β‡© β‡¨πŸ–±β‡¨

more buttons (maybe too much ?)

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)/ -_ =+ ⌫ delins fn3 tab QπŸ–±βš™z- WπŸ–±βš™β‡§ EπŸ–±βš™z+ R T Y U4 I5 O6 P* [{ ]} ⏎ super home caps AπŸ–±βš™β‡¦ SπŸ–±βš™β‡© DπŸ–±βš™β‡¨ F G H J1 K2 L3 ;:- '"num \|πŸ–±lock πŸ˜€ endπŸ–±M shift \| Z X C V B N M0 ,<. .>⏎ /?+ shiftπŸ–±fast PgUpπŸ–±L β‡§πŸ–±β‡§ PgDnπŸ–±R fn1 ctrl win menu alt space alt gr win menu ctrl fn2 β‡¦πŸ–±β‡¦ β‡©πŸ–±β‡© β‡¨πŸ–±β‡¨

further sci-fi ideas

- add usb-C ports around (the keyboard is also a hub), and allow at least one to charge the laptop/phone/tablet

- put an SSD in it to allow "copy-paste" even with large files on the keyboard (safety/privacy issue though)

- make it a power bank : put a very large battery for both bluetooth and other usage.

- put volume buttons on the side like on a phone

- put a jack input (and an USB sound card) to compensate for phone/tablet

- keyboard level layout change : a shortcut allows the user to switch between american layout, math layout for analysis, math layout for probability, physics layout etc...

- make ⏎ or space large and a touchpad and do space touchpadπŸ–± alt-grπŸ–±L win πŸ–±R ctrl πŸ–±M

consideration shown above

- make meta keys adjacent so that they can be both hit with a single finger. This is very useful in many software.

- 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.

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

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

- individual navigation key (without fn combination) home end pgup pgdn

- something thin, lightweight, quiet (ie not mechanical)

- bluetooth support

- replaceable USB cable (make it work even without a battery when powered by this cable, even for bluetooth)

- minimize key cap variety (5 types) 1 1.5 2 spacebar ⏎
we could consider replacing all 2 keys with 1.5 keys with gaps around if that doesn't affect comfort.

- fn key let us have a numpad on the keyboard because 7 β‰  numpad 7 in blender

- any key combination is valid (for better human computer interfacing)

- different key texture so that we feel where we are (no need for backlight)

- easy to service (key cap, buttons, logic board, anything are replaceable)

- QMK support