This Keyboard Changed My Life
Вставка
- Опубліковано 29 тра 2024
- I lost the ability to type on keyboards while I was attending university and developing an indie game. Consequently, I had to drop out and rethink my entire life/career had I not come across this keyboard. Thank you, ZSA, for making split, ergonomic keyboards easily accessible. It changed my life.
This video is very personal and documents my experiences with a repetitive strain injury (RSI) caused by working too much at the computer.
We discuss how suffering from such an injury affected the video game I was developing, my studies and my mental health.
Hopefully, you can learn from my experiences and take action if you ever feel strain from typing before it's too late.
The ZSA Moonlander (my current daily driver and favorite keyboard):
www.zsa.io/moonlander/
ZSA Moonlander footage by Ben Vallack (used with permission):
/ benvallack
The Logitech Ergo K860 I used for the first many months - highly recommended if you're looking for a somewhat normal and easy-to-learn ergonomic alternative to regular keybards:
www.logitech.com/en-us/produc...
The article about wrist pain from mouse usage:
www.flexispot.com/spine-care-...
The Colemak keyboard layout, a modern alternative to QWERTY that makes typing way more comfortable on any keyboard (I use the Colemak DHm layout):
colemak.com/
Monkeytype and Keybr, the websites I used to learn proper touch typing on the Colemak DHm layout:
www.keybr.com/
monkeytype.com/
Stock footage provided by:
www.pexels.com/
Music used:
"Pendulum Waltz" by Audionautix:
• Pendulum Waltz - Audio...
"I Don't Want To Do This Without You" by Late Night Feeler:
• Late Night Feeler - I ...
"Golden" by Lena Raine (Celeste OST):
• [Official] Celeste Ori...
"Once We Part Ways" from Xenoblade Chronicles:
• Xenoblade Chronicles O...
"Epilogue" from Xenoblade Chronicles:
• Xenoblade Chronicles O...
Timestamps:
0:00 - 1:14 Introduction
1:14 - 4:45 RSI and Its Consequences on Game Dev/University
4:45 - 5:58 Healing Begins
5:58 - 7:07 My First Ergonomic Keyboard
7:07 - 8:36 Patience and Persistence
8:36 - 9:23 Learning to Grip a Mouse Properly
9:23 - 12:26 The Moonlander and Colemak
12:26 - 13:47 Conclusion and Ending
13:47 - 14:12 Outro
#mechanicalkeyboard #ergonomics
Hello! This video is very personal and means a lot to me, so please keep the comments civil.
Since I announced that I had gotten RSI last year, a lot of you have asked me how I have been doing, and whether the injury has had any significant impact on the development of Vibrant Venture.
I feel like I need to be transparent and give you all the full story about what has been going on over the past year, which is why I made this video.
In regards to the future of Vibrant Venture, we plan to show more of the upcoming Alpha 5 update next week.
Please see the video description if you would like to read up on the resources mentioned in the video. Take care of yourselves!
- Patt
that was intresting
This is why I invariably take breaks after one hour of computer use. Stand up, stroll a couple of minutes around the house, stretch, rest my sight and do something else to also rest my mind (if I was doing something active). You don't need fancy equipment either, just have discipline around...resting, as contradictory as it sounds.
i feel very bad for not knowing about it
This video hit me hard. I’ve struggled with RSI for years and our stories are very similar. I actually just ordered a moon lander about an hour ago. Looking forward to it, but am a little concerned that it can’t rent and negative tilt at the same time, correct? I’ve heard that is one of the most ergonomic positions to have. What are your thoughts?
@@mike35424 Sorry to hear that.
What exactly do you mean by "it can’t rent and negative tilt at the same time"?
Great story and very nicely told!
Nice comment
Are you okay?
Wow, just wow. This is one of my worst nightmares: having to give up on something you love so much. I myself enjoy programming and game development, so hearing this made me scared. You are a brave one. Good luck with your game!
@kızgın tosbağa Taking good care of yourself can be a lot harder than it seems, especially when you don't really realize you're not doing so.
@kızgın tosbağa ahhhh, sorry, I couldn't tell
I cried. Well, honestly I was close to because I also remembered that I learned to not take things for granted the hard way. Dude, I really appreciate your effort and your ability to push through. We, as a community, will listen to you and understand you. If you have to take a hiatus, then do so.
No more stress.
Take a rest, you deserve it.
Amazing speech that is entirely true
Thank you for this video. A few months ago, I too was a CS student at a university when my wrists and forearms started to pain, so much so that I couldn't type a few words. Like you I too had ignored the initial signs. And upon going through a number of articles and many reddit posts, got a rough idea what this could be. I freaked out. Consulted a orthopedic surgeon. After ruling out nerve damage he said it's a RSI. I had to take a two months break from typing because it was too painful. Meanwhile the mental struggle continued. I started getting depressed thinking "What if this is permanent and worsens over time? I can't deal with this even before starting my career. What if I'm no able to type ever again. All the effort I had put in the last 10 years from studying CS in highschool to getting into a decent college to pursue masters will go to waste. I would not be able to do what I love most - code." But luckily things started improving. Then I bought an ergonomic keyboard and the pain drastically reduced. Now I'm able to type continuously for about a minute before my wrists and forearms start to pain. Then I give my hands a few minutes of rest whilst reading some documentation and then start typing again. Now, like you, the tendons on my mouse hand pains due to over-stretching because of my full-sized keyboard. I am considering between ZSA Moonlander and Microsoft Sculpt TKL Ergonomic keyboard. This video just my choice a bit easier.
Thank you again.
ZSA or an ortholinear alternative should be better than the sculpt, because it reduces finger movement.
@@daniellozobia5386 I got the Moonlander Mk 1.
@@ssc1348 was it worth it?
@fakeest Absolutely! The keyboard, few stretching excercise along with changes to my work setup to make it more ergonomic has worked miracles. After consulting another neurologist, he suspected it could be due to a pinched nerve in the neck. I'm working on my spine since then. It's been a year, I'm pain free😃. Though there are few days that involves a lot of typing when it flares up.
@@ssc1348 I'm happy for you :) Having wrist pain myself, going to try to get a split keyboard. What kind of exercises do you do to help with the pain? :)
I did the transition to a kinesis 15 years ago. Like me, for better or worse, I guess you will:
-need about 3-5 years to completely accomodate to the new layout,
-feel more comfortable then than you ever had with your old regular keyboard,
-significantly increase your typing speed,
- absolutely, deeply and desparately hate - HATE - standard keyboard layouts. You will stop liking to work with a laptop. You will add an external keyboard to your luggage.
I can understand why regular keyboards are still in use - because they are simply there. I cannot understand why they are this fiercely and heavily defended by a lot of proponents that consider even a relocation of the arrow keys a sacrilege. Regular keyboards WILL destroy your health. The more you use it, the faster. The more you deviate from a correct and consistant usage of official touch typing, the faster.
My urgend recommendation to everyone: get a proper ergonomic keyboard as soon as you can afford it. The sooner you start, the more you will get out of it, but is never too late to start.
It will be difficult to get a proper ergonomic keyboard below 200.-- bucks. Forget all those pseudo-ergonomic keyboards that simply split and angle a regular layout keyboard.
A proper egronomic keyboard:
- mandatory: has vertically alligned keys/no row staggering to prevent twisting your fingers towards the pinky on the left hand and towards the thumb on the right hand,
- mandatory: separates and/or angles left- and righthand keys to prevent ulnar adduction,
- optional: completely splits the keyboard to allow adjustments in width to you, personally,
- mandatory: has a proper wrist rest to prevent ulnar radial extension (except for you have the discipline and the endurance to _allways_ "hover" your wrists properly),
- optional: has key wells to account for the different length of your fingers,
- optional: can be angled laterally (like an ergo-mouse) to prevent ulnar pronation,
- optional: has proper key switches with a decent travel befor impacting that activate way before impact to prevent "bottoming out" (some prefer short travel keys, but I don't understand why because it seems impossible to use them without bottoming out),
-optional: has no number pad or other keys on its right side to get the mouse as close as possible to your right hand (except for you are a leftie, then congrats in this case).
A (by far not complete) list of exaples for "proper" ergonomic keyboards: Maltron, Kinesis Advantage, Dactyl, Ergodox, Moonlander, Truly Ergonomic, X-Bows.
If you are a bit more experimental: Datahand, CharaChorder.
And to all those who are now outraged and argue "I am the fastest code hacker with my 7,5 finger custom system and have no injuries with my regular keyboard whatsoever". Yes, I know. I was too. For decades. I was wrong.
Agree with everything except that it takes several years to adjust. For me, it only took a few months to learn how to use the Moonlander and feel comfortable with it. Of course, I did get even more comfortable with it over time, however after ~6 months, I was faster and more efficient than I ever was on a standard keyboard.
Also, a couple other ergonomic keyboards you may consider adding to your list: Dygma Defy and Keyboardio Model 100.
@@SemagGames Yes, I agree, also these are worthy contenders for the proper ergonomic keyboard list :-)
Concerning the time frame of familiarizing with a substantially new keyboard layout, according to my expericence (mostly based on my own transition, somehow confirmed by some fellow transitioneers, and of course dependent on consistency of use and amount of extra training), you need about 1-3 weeks to write at all (all words without looking, but horribly slow), 1-3 months to write sufficiently fast to effectively do work, 6-12 months to reach and exceed your previous writing speed (but with still thinking about key location), 3-5 years to just think a word and brain stem and fingers will do the rest (you will even forget about individual key locations again). However, I was in my early 30s when transitioning and no young man anymore, and I assume that the earlier you start the faster your transition phase will pass.
Let's meet here again in some years and share experiences ;-)
The quality of this video production is seriously incredible. I can't even begin to imagine how much time and effort you put into writing this script, recording the perfect take for every line, editing, making sure all of the video made sense with the audio, etc. But however much effort did go into it, oh my god was the effort worth it. Final product is incredible.
Best of luck in your journey with ergo keyboards and colemak. Typed on a dactyl manuform with vanilla colemak
This is so similar to my experience. I'm in the middle of it right now and that graph of how it feels really got to me. It does feel like every few days you're back at square one and it's the most demoralizing thing. I'm really happy that you're on the other side. Funnily enough I got here from Moonlander content so I'll have one to comment on from the Artist RSI perspective. Hope your improvement continues on an upward journey.
Thanks my man!
Also thank for the correct neck posture check at the end!
I’m 39 and in CyberSec. I’ve been working on some high level certs recently and my hands started hurting months in. Very similar story. Thank you for sharing yours! My Moonlander will be here soon. 🎉😊
Thanks for making this, very nice and brave of you. I have been feeling bit of pain in my right wrist, but I have always brushed it off. While I have taken breaks whenever I felt like it, I will definitely get my wrist checked sometime in the near future to prevent anything like this from happening to me.
Thank you. Definitely take it seriously, pain from computer usage is nothing to scoff at.
I would totally recommend getting into the habit of exercising/working out if you don't already do it, that has also helped me quite a bit.
Weight lifting can strengthen the wrists and help get rid of the strain.
- Patt
Hi, i am kindoff experiencing similar symptoms as you did before your rsi, I was thinking on getting the moonlander but was about to skip it due to its high price, but you convinced me to get it, before it’s too late!
Thank you so much for sharing your story!
I wanna say that I’m glad you got the help you needed to get over RSI and be able to prevent it. Us Semag Games fans will always be here to back you up and support you, no matter what! Stay safe, man. We all appreciate you! :)
This video helped me get through my own struggle with chronic pain, just hearing your story a year ago. Thank you.
dude. congratulations on pushing through and learning to properly listen to your body. i’m doing a bit of research on the moonlander currently because i’ve realised that i don’t have to just put up with the incompatibility between normal keyboards and the ways dystonia (a neurological muscular disorder) causes my arms, wrists, and shoulders to behave. this video has sold me. thank you so much for sharing your story ❤️❤️
I came her to watch a review of moonlander keyboard. This is a great story to listen to. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you for sharing your story! I feel so validated hearing it from someone. I've worked hard on my dissertation for almost two years and I'm also an illustrator so when I learned I have RSI, I got really depressed - and this is just a month ago. I swear I teared up hearing someone talking about it and the psychological effects it can have on a person
Thank you for sharing your story! It really touched me and give me motivation to keep going in my journey of fixing my shoulder and arm muscle pain.
Thank you for sharing your story. It's nice to know I wasn't the only one to make such a mistake. I wish I'd intervened sooner and I hope more people will see this and do what we couldn't and not let the problem get so bad.
Thank you for making this video. It really struck a chord in me and as a result I will probably invest some time in learning more about keyboards to eventually make one perfectly suited to my needs.
I have the same issue now and just bought the Moonlander. My pain comes and goes and I suspect its from my shoulder. It got way worse when I sleep wrong on neck/shoulder areas.
It's really distressing because everything is on computers. I had to drop my 3D Modeling hobby because of it. I'm grateful that you've shared your story here. It makes me feel more hopeful and also want to make more effort for my health too.
Best to you
@@aliasor835 The keyboard has helped a fair amount! It's an improvement. I still have issues, but mainly its my mouse now. I recommend it
Thanks for a nice and honest video. Wish you the best of luck.
Good video Patt, I hope that you will recover very soon.
Back before I was introduced to climbing in July 2016 at the age of 45, I knew I had issues with RSI even before the age of 25, and thought it was just carpal tunnel syndrome, and wore wrist braces at times, certainly at night, even though for regular work hours I used a Microsoft Ergonomic keyboard. My regular doctor had suggested it was carpal tunnel syndrome and I should wear the wrist braces while I slept. Note: I started with computers at about the age of 10 and have been using computer keyboards ever since for a living. I've never had a typing class, despite best efforts to take one in junior high and high school in the 80s, as the school system had other plans for my time.
When I started climbing in 2016, that made it abundantly clear how messed-up I was and literally bent out of shape due to decades of poor posture of shoulders and wrists, with admittedly, an important part being it took me until 1996 to really get fairly proper touch-typing, though I suspect if I pay close attention, it's not a pure proper touch-typing, I just have good enough muscle memory after so many decades as a developer/writer for typing, despite a bit of motor planning issues/dyslexia/poor fine/gross motor coordination.
I tell you about the climbing, because in many ways, it's more or less something that balances out the regular movements of sitting and typing, and that's why it got to be agonizing after enough climbing each session that I needed to alternate heat and ice, until I went through physical therapy for my shoulders. It wasn't really (I think) technically carpal tunnel syndrome, but more nerve impingement up in my shoulders, though I conceded it's entirely possible I had a combination of both, because as I type this on an iPad Pro with the qwerty Apple keyboard, my wrists are still bent horribly, as I have sufficiently wide shoulders that it's more common than not that I won't be in neutral positions.
I also mentioned climbing as an important counterbalance for your needs for remaining a viable employable developer, or really, anyone that needs to use keyboards, or just repetitive movements with your arms of certain types: for every thing that you do that bends you in one way, you need to balance it out with something that bends you the other way, whatever that is, to a proper amount of stretching/bending, so you don't get too unbalanced. Perhaps that's climbing, perhaps something else, you'll need to figure that one out, but you need to do that for your long-term health and ability to not be on the permanently-disabled list. This isn't an option to avoid. Consult a physical therapist for exercises and movements to counterbalance what you do when typing all the time, besides perhaps getting in-person consultations for verifying the proper setup of your work environment: spend a little money on copays and consultations now, far cheaper than the price of being disabled and in pain.
Yes, early this year I bought an Ergodox EZ Glow, and I'm working on getting it to my objectives for layouts, in particular, with removing as many ways of chording as I can reasonably figure out. Frustratingly, Zsa's Oryx online configurator tool doesn't currently allow you to copy/paste individual keys or just even individual layers from even your own keyboard layouts, let alone other user's layouts: I'm going to submit a feature request for that, because I see many other keyboard layouts with layers that appear to be great painstakingly-developed layers, that the rest of the layers I don't want to work with.
Your video brings back one of my worst memories. I experienced the same thing but not to this extent when I found a new job one of my coworkers convenience me to try to use VIM mode for navigating through code so I would have to move my hand as often and neither the mouse as often. It was painful to improve muscle memory for many months but that changed my life I've never had to go back to the hospital to take shots on my tendons because they were inflamed and improved the love I had for programming. Cheers man, I hope you are 100% better now
Wow, That must’ve been the hardest thing to get through. It sounds must have been so frustrating to not being able to do anything without pain. There is so many things you do with your hands like eat, grabbing things, playing games, open things like doors, writing, lifting things, and so much more. Glad that you were able to recover and do what you love!
Thank you so much for this video!
I've had pain in my hands and wrists for several years now. I've invested thousands of dollars into ergonomic equipment. I've followed every exercise routine you can think of. I've visited doctors and occupational therapists, none of them could find a problem with me.
I work as a developer, and I feel utterly screwed. I love programming, but I don't know for how much longer I can take it. I can barely program for 5 minutes without feeling pain. :(
I'm currently experiencing it because of art overwork. I've been following a stretching program from Sharon J. Butler that you can find here: www.selfcare4rsi.com/ and it's been helping in a way that the other things haven't. Things are still hard but I'm definitely improving one wiggly stretch at a time. Hope it helps you as much as it's helped me.
Sound advice. Been there and done that. Sometimes it feels difficult not to push through because of both internal and external pressure to do something, but it almost never pays off in the end. You are better off taking that break and continuing later.
Your determination is inspiring. This video ought to have more views.
I related to this on so many levels. Thank you for this video!
I wish you to recover fully and enjoy the coding even more ❤
Congratulations, happy for you.
Hey you're not alone - I injured my shoulder playing disc golf this summer and it not only impacted my favorite hobby & competitive outlet, but my job as a software engineer as well. Take it slow, we'll get back.
Also, I just bought a moonlander today and I can't wait to get it.
good to see your doing fine man!
This was an amazing video!
I got both RSI and CTS in both hands. This video hits hard, It is very difficult to be patient and heal.
Very amazing story! I'm glad that you recovered well. I have learned colemak-dh mod and I have been looking at split keyboards like the moonlander keyboard. I'll take a look at your game now^
i was just looking for some sound tests as i'm waiting for my own moonlander to arrive - my body is only unhappy after very long typing sessions but i wanted to take care of myself considering i intend to write software for probably the rest of my life. found this lovely story instead, shed a tear. very happy for you!! incidentally ive also been trying dhm on my staggered keyboard and intended to continue learning on my moonlander so i feel validated in my layout choice hahaha
more power to you, man!
Amazing Video! This is a gem truly and great motivation for me. I am at the start this journey and still in the beginning steps of learning a new layout. I know it will be worth it though.
Good luck! Been using it for a year now, it's worth it!
I have a Keychron K3, and I made the mistake of buying it for its looks rather than its comfort. I put up with the low-profile switches and wooden wrist rest because it looked so nice. Then, I lifted a printer and injured my shoulders, causing me to develop RSI-like symptoms in my hands for a few weeks.
Typing on that keyboard felt like torture. My fingers felt like they were literally being slammed against a brick wall every time I pressed a key, and I became acutely aware of how uncomfortable the wrist rest was. I went to physical therapy and my shoulders healed, and the RSI symptoms went away, but the mental scar remains.
I purchased a moonlander a few weeks ago, but immediately determined that it was too large for my smaller-than-average hands. I returned it today and ordered the parts to custom build a Lily58. I haven't yet decided if I want to switch away from qwerty, but I'll probably end up doing that in the near future.
Thank you for sharing your story. There are tons of people like me who didn't take RSI seriously, and it took me actually experiencing the symptoms to understand just how bad it can be.
Thank you so much for sharing this personal healing journey of yours.
I'm on track to develop an RSI and want to nip it in the bud before it incapacitates me, so I'm doing some research on ergo split keyboards. And I've considered other keyboard layouts, even.
Seeing that someone else did what I want to do -- get a Moonlander with Colemak layout, cold turkey, starting over....is heartening. In my prime I had a QWERTY WPM of about 120. Now I'm down to about 89 at a moderate pace, and 101-103 if I really go fast. And it hurts my wrists.
I think I'm going to do this too. Cheers, hope you're well. xx
I play piano and guitar, I love to lift weights at the gym, I am a cs graduate so I type a lot. My worst nightmare is to lose hand mobility. I could manage being paraplegic, or even blind or deaf, but the sole thought of not being able to use my hands terrifies me.
I don't have any symptoms of RSI but already switched to Colemak a year ago and considering buying a Voyager (also by ZSA). I wish you all the best bro! It surely takes a lot of bravery to overcome this!
Nice story, I am way older than you but also a gamer and a game developper. I now type faster than ever using my Moonlander. It tooks me one month and some proper training like you did. It's a pleasure to put my hand on this keyboard EVERY time I start to type. Next chapter of this journey is to reveive the sculpted blank keycaps wich could (we'll see) add an additional benefit to this keyboard. Something amazing is the ability to get rid of the right part when playing FPS, it frees a lot of space for mouse (I use a very low sensistivity), I developped the habit to play FPS using the numpad with regular 100% keyboards but now I have the best of all words : good typing experience, best gaming keyboard ever... with my proper optimized firmware to make it comparable to a Corsair 1000Hz gaming keyboard.
this history is very inspiring, thanks for sharing
Thank you for sharing your story! I really wish I could afford a similar keyboard (though there are some changes I'd like to make) but I fell into depression for over a decade after my best friend died and now I'm in too poor of health to do anything about it. I cannot make enough money fast enough to get anywhere (due to my health) :(
as someone who also still suffers from RSI and went on a journey to find a more ergonomic keyboard, i really appreciated this video. im using the dygma raise myself as i found it hard to let go of the nordic layout. they released the tenting kit a few months a go and i picked it up as soon as possible. its very scary when you suddenly lose the ability to spend time doing something that you enjoy, especially when so much we do nowadays relies on using a computer. The keyboard has helped and i hope things continue to improve for all of us who suffers from this. great video!
Glad you can work pain-conscious now! It's great that you're putting your health first and listening to signs. We're all fans of the game you're making but more importantly is you. Your health goes above the game or work, and i'm sure all of us agree.
I also love coding and game development and also felt some pain when typing for an extended amount of time, but nothing serious (yet).
A few months ago I also decided to buy the moonlander and switch to Colemak DH like you, maybe I dodged a big bullet there! I can also recommend the keyboard/layout, it's much more fun and less straining to type.
Hope you feel better now!
This is just an excellent video. I honestly think you are helping people a lot more than you know by sharing your experience. I'm glad that you found the tools to help you out. Personally I'm on the fence between this keyboard and the ultimate hacking keyboard. They both seem like very high-quality customizable boards with a lot of ergonomics in common.
Thank you! If I were you, I would probably wait for January 2022 and go for the Keyboardio Model 100.
Its ergonomics (and especially thumb cluster) seems like a major improvement over i.e. the Moonlander.
Very nice video, felt very emotional and personal. Very inspirational.
In my university days i somehow got by with typing on a laptop keyboard with very bad ergonomics. As soon as i started my job as a software developer the wrist pain started to set in. I eventually bought a microsoft ergonomic sculp keyboard and mouse. The pain went way. After two years it broke down and i wanted to buy a new one. I thought to myself okay now this wrist pain is not a problem anymore i should buy a nice mechanical keyboard and forget about ergonomics. As soon as i got it only a week after working on it the pains started again. I tried wrist supports to taking frequent breaks but the pain wouldn't go away.
That's when i started to research into split mechanical keyboard after much work i decided to go for the helidox corne 42 key split keyboard. Now i was thinking i had just shelled out around 100 dollars and should i spend again or is it going to be more money wasted. But i juat went for it and after the same typing hurdles you are going theough i am glad to say that the pain has vanished. I still take breaks and everything so it does not come back to haunt me
Lovely video. Very important to deal with RSI. i almost had to give up programming because it was so bad, keeping me awake at night.
Finally found a ergonomic mouse and keyboard which helped a lot
Thanks for sharing this. I’m on a similar journey myself :) oh and your game looks great btw! I might give it a try!
awesome video, i also use colmak dh and love it, same experience with it being hard to learn but its so helpful
The YT algorithm works in mysterious ways, so I dont know how I stump with this video, but I'm happy for it. Wonderful story, powerful message. Hopefully you are much better now!
hey man! an rsi shoved me towards this board too. cannot say enough good things about it. I used a keyboard for work and pleasure for many years and eventually that catches up to anyone. the price was hard to swallow, but like you said it's an investment in your health. anyone with high exposure to keyboards would do themselves a favor by paying attention to ergonomics to the best of their ability, the sooner the better. I hope true split ergo keyboards become more inexpensive in the future. when they begin to hit that $40 - $50 mark off the shelf is when I think they'll see more adoption. thanks for this video. happy moonlanding.
I'm starting my own recovery journey now. Thanks for sharing your experience. I can't imagine what it was like to get this during university. I luckily only developed it after graduating, but I'm worried it'll affect my next job. I'm starting to learn colemak now and taking some time off work. If you have any tips to share I would appreciate it. But if not, the video was good so thanks for that anyway :)
amazing video, really enjoyed your narration style!
I am also considering getting an ergo keyboard, as much as I love how my custom 65% mech feels and looks, I do not want to be the victim of RSI and I want something more comfortable and optimized (also will try my best to switch to Colemak-DH)
Thank you and best regards
Found your channel because I was looking for dialogue tutorials in Unity, but I had to stop because my hands were starting to really bother me while typing.
After watching this, it sounds like I made the right decision, thank you for being so open about your experience with this, and I hope you continue to recover well! (Also that mouse tip is a lifesaver!)
Just ordered the Voyager after prolonged pain in the right shoulder. Thanks for validating the purchase even before it arrives lol.
This is so cool. I love the addition of switching to Colemak.
Hi I am inspired by your video message in the story to be eventually to use ergonomic keyboard. I too have recently ordered a moonlander and about to get a customed to the keyboard. To avoid injuries mentioned in the video.
I hope you are better than usual.
Ian
Thank you! Still using the Moonlander to this day and I don't really have any RSI problems anymore!
I too have been saved by the Moonlander. Computer usage and musical instruments can wreak havoc on hands and wrists. Listening to your body and being ergonomic is key like you mentioned.
very inspiring story, dude!
Wow your story somewhat like mine on keyboards except I didn't have any real RSI because immediately I started to feel discomfort for typing long hours, I immediately started research on what to do, I got the ZSA ergodox ez in 2020 and immediately learned colemak, on qwerty I was about 100wps, today my highest on colemak is 125wpm. Wish u the best mate, continue to do what u love.
I use a ZSA Moonlander too and i confirm these keyboards are wonderful. What is impressive in your journey is the way you overcame your difficulties ! I really admire guys like you. So i'm gonna try the game you realized too. It seems to be very interesting :)
Do you type faster with it, compared to regular keyboards ?
@@revolutionar267 Yes i do. With a regular keyboard, i type 25 words per minute. With a moonlander, i type between 50 and 60 words per minute without any intensive training.
@@julianpieropan4771 Do you regret that decision, to leave the regular keyboard standard ? And is it possible to customize the buttons, for example change the "z" button with "y" button ? So in the corner left would be y and on the top, rigth to "t" should be "z". Is that possible ? Thank you. And do you recommend this new split layout ?
Inspiring video.
I'm going through an RSI on both hands myself and I got a K860 (my father gave me one too lol). Just beginning a new career as a software engineer (which I'm very excited about) and I have tried a variety of different mice and bought an electric desk (for standing and setting usage). K860 seems fine for me for the moment. I was considering buying an eye tracker (my friend has one and loves it), but I currently haven't found one for Mac. Also, having short breaks throughout the day and will start physiotherapy.
Alternative nice techs that you may want to try:
- Serenade (code by voice)
- SmyleMouse (use your hand and smile as a mouse)
- FootPedals
A friend of mine is working on putting together a 3D printable split keyboard with a trackball built into the right half, once he's finished the hardware design I'm planning to start building my own to try and help give some input on fine tuning the firmware for it, I haven't reached the point of noticeable RSI yet but I'm eager to avoid it if I can, and my typing speed has never been super fast so I'm not too worried about a slow start, might need to build a lap-desk to go with it though because I use my PC from a reclined position well away from a desk, or in other words, my PC is set up around my bed, for comfort... because apparently I'm some kind of lazy brat who's opposed to desks.
On the plus side though I have more room for VR games to keep me active and give me strong reasons to keep my room clean
Hope your injury continues to improve and you can adapt to your new keyboard readily in time!
great video. The ergodox EZ + Colemak keyboard saved my coding career also. If your job requires a lot of typing, consider a split keyboard!
I had issues with using mice. I tried many different kinds. Then I switched to touchpads and oh man, what difference! Glad you found your cure!! Learning curve was about 1 to 2 weeks until I was proficient, after using mice since 2003..
I'm glad you're feeling better. :) Keep making awesome stuff! :D
Thank you for putting this important message out there.
Most people just don’t have any idea how dangerous it is to do computer work using non ergonomic equipment, and this must change, now.
I agree. I wish schools brought more attention to this so we wouldn't end up spending so much time and money treating injured people who were unaware, like myself.
I'm learning colemak and researching different keyboard options at the moment because the pain has really started to slow me down, thanks for making this video I'm more sure that I am on the right track now, going from 120ish wpm down to 20ish wpm sucks so much but if it can help me keep coding it will be worth it. Also I made the mistake of trying to use wrist rests to keep my wrists level took me a while to realise that I was pressing my wrists down and causing a new problem, this comment took forever to write lol
Storytelling lvl: LOTR.
what an emotional journey, this should be made into a film
Hey Pattrigue (did I spell this right? sorry if its wrong lol)! Renato from the colemak discord server here. Just wanted to say that this video is amazing, I loved every minute of it, and that game looks amazing! I am not much of a platform type of guy but that video sold me on it hahahaha. Absolutely a joy to watch, keep going at it!
Hi renato
@@smudge9603 Hi Smudge
I've gone through phases in my life of bad hand and wrist pain, although it sounds like not as bad as yours. Sometimes I still do. Clean diet and minimal (ideally no) sugar helps a lot.
I also just ordered my Moonlander a couple days ago. I don't think it will fix all the ergonomic problems with my desk at work, but it's a start.
I've found a little excessive the sad in your telling, Like enjoying it, but the story is good. I get here because I´m investigating this kind of split keyboards here in Argentina (not really easy to access, and a expensive like to buy and then regret if you don't feel confort). But what you said about using the mouse far to the right is exactly what I'm experiencing right now and I wasn't aware!! Thanks for sharing your experience!! And I really hope you feel better!
Very similar to my story. I bought a Maltron, which almost made me cry. I was able to continue my career. I still struggle with the mousewheel, but I bought an MX Master which was an enormous help. I now make custom keyboards as a hobby.
this is making me realize i REALLY should invest in a keyboard like this. ive been typing every day for nearly a decade, and i have wrist pain despite being a teen, even now while typing im having an ache in my left wrist
I salute you, brave one
I started using a Dygma Raise+Tenting Kit (and looking forward to Dygma Defy) to have an ergonomic split keyboard to reduce straining and bad posture (I'm a programmer). Using an different chair (Moveo Armonia) helped a lot, too
Hi SemagGames, thank you for the inspiring video. I'm struggling with RSI as well. I'm a Data Scientist and hobby musician (I play the piano, keyboards and guitar) and I can totally relate to your pain. I feel void, and completely devastated. The same things I've invested so many years of my life to, are now causing me pain. And I love my job and my hobbies, obviously. I'm going to the doctor tomorrow, and I wanted to know if you could maybe talk about the exercises you did in order to recover from your RSI. I have all the same, wrists, elbow, and right shoulder tingling, numbness, pain. I've been also working in a moonlander since the beginning of this year and have an ergonomic mouse, which I place in the middle. The exact same setup you show at 10:53. But I feel there is only so much that this is doing. My next step is to try the Colemak layout.
Anyways, thank you very much for your video and showing me and many others that there is light at the end of this long tunnel.
I have the same issue, and I wrap my fingers in coband wraps when I use the keyboard. It removes a lot of the pain. I recommend it.
Dammn ! What a video man !
For once, the algorithm is showing me good stuff. Meta aside, I'm blown away and moved by your unfortunate journey, and would like to share my own if that's ok ^-^
I've never had good typing habits, not utilising proper technique, not using the home row, and now it's catching up with me... I started noticing some pain a few months ago after writing a long document, but thought nothing of it, just passing it off as being tired... But it happened again... And again... Not to the point of burning from RSI, but enough to reflect on how I typed. I knew of alternate layouts, Dvorak being the most famous, but until 2 weeks ago, I never knew Colemak existed.
After considering switching for a while and researching on technique, I went cold turkey 5 days ago. I audibly exclaimed hearing you mention switching to Colemak, and relate *HARD* to the issues of speed and temptation to go back, but this is done out of necessity. Many of my fingers are very weak due to poor habits, technique, and underutilisation, so I'm getting tired from typing much faster and get mentally burnt and frustrated at all my mistakes and slow typing speed... But every day I'm improving and my pain has drastically reduced, though my weak fingers feel fatigued. I know in time I'll thank my past self for taking the plunge.
Maybe someday I'll graduate to a matrix split keyboard or use anything outside the vanilla UK Colemak layout (w/ caps backspace of course lmao).
Thank you for making this video.
P.S: It took 21 minutes and 30 seconds to write this comment.
P.P.S: GL on future game development! :3
Thank you for the kinds words and good luck on your typing journey! It's well worth it in the end, trust me :)
I could relate to your description of fiery pain in your fingers; that was exactly what I felt in my pinky and ring fingers. Turns out both of them are connected to the ulnar nerve and the ache I had in my upper arm and elbow was caused by the same thing that made those two fingers burn: ulnar nerve entrapment, also known as cubital tunnel syndrome. Luckily, I am entirely pain free now, thanks to sleeping with elbow splints to keep my elbows straight (and therefore not aggravate the ulnar nerve) and my Kinesis Advantage 2 keyboard. Kinesis recently released their Kinesis Advantage 360, with a new split design! I use a Kensington trackball in the center of my keyboard, to eliminate wrist movement. Hopefully you have been cured since making this video, but if not, maybe consider the foregoing and see if it may help you too. :D
In one of the shots at the end one sees that you lay your hand on the wrist rest and the hand is angled upwards. I think that contributes to your problems. I always type with floating hands with a split keyboard and never had problems, even when typing all day long. When you do a use a wrist rest I think it should be higher, so that your arm and hand are more or less in a a line -- but still I wonder if it's not better to use the "rest" for resting the hand between typing, but not while typing. I just bought a Model 100 from keyboardio. It has a more aggressive staggering compared to the Moonlander. I think the M100 is better in that regard, as well with better layed out thumb keys and a palm key. No long term experience so far although with it, but I guess it will be work out good.
Very nice quality video and I appreciate you telling us your story. Please can you tell us or provide us with your exercises for both tendons and muscles?
Here are the exercises - I started with the very basic ones in ex1.pdf for my tendons, then I moved on to the more regular ones in ex2.pdf.
drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/1N3N2xOCZcJjrVIlbBOJ3fftMBEyEHfu3
@@SemagGames Thank you very much. Yes, some similar exercises I have for my ulnar nerve indeed :) Thanks a lot once more!
@@SemagGames I Also noticed that in the end you have Ergodox keyboard? Can i ask you what do you think of low profile buttons on Logitech keyboard you had vs standard high ones on ergodox? I also did similar swtich now and I have to say, its not pleasant at all xD
@@nssSmooge I do not have an Ergodox. I own a Moonlander, a Preonic and a Logitech Ergo K860. I primarily use the Moonlander and have been since March.
I prefer the high profile keys on the Moonlander and Preonic, though.
Just know I'm glad you have come to terms with your limits, I should show Dr. Beanie aka JakeTheMadCoder this because it might help him, just know I'm aware about Dr. Beanie having some beef with a developer in your team a while back but I think this will help him, tbh he even said that even though he feels like he will amount to nothing due to not getting on n stuff, this might give him some inspiration, thanks for this, it's the fact he is a talented guy but he keeps throwing his life away due o thinking he is unwelcome as a creator himself, get well soon pattrigue
Hope this comment finds you well, i've been struggling myself for 2 years with wrist tendonitis, caused by coding and playing guitar.
I had many many physiotherapy sessions, eventually i gave up studying and going up to the stage with my guitar, I quit an IT job as a sysadmin because of this and tried pursuing a teaching STEM path.
It hit me just before covid too. Since then, there is some progress but its not completely over. I am very frustrated but a have not lost hope.
Wish to all who are suffering from something like this to get well soon.
truly inspiring
"Now I listen."
Ironically, I am quite literally doing that. I had never even heard of tinnitus until a year ago. Unfortunately for me, the ringing after listening to music too loud became permanent. I will never, for the rest of my lifetime hear complete silence ever again. A trivial problem compared to yours, but I just thought I would share.
Have tinnitus too. Imo it's not worse or less bad than rsi. Both absolutely suck.
Thank you good friend
You had me with the vim keycap 😅
Thank you!
Hey! Great video! Could you share some of the exercises? Thank you very much!
This is awesome, thank you do for sharing this encouraging story! I bought the same logi ergo keyboard to try to help with my left wrist plain, and didn't find it much of an improvement. Just today, for the first time, I started feeling a stabbing sensation inside my right arm which I bet is directly due to poor mousing posture (I will probably bite the bullet and get a vertical mouse soon).
I recently started looking at other keyboard solutions and I'm most likely going to go with a Moonlander! Adding to that, I have just started to learn Colemak dh(m)! What a coincidence!
On this last point, how do you get keybr to present the layout? There is a Colemak option but I don't see one for the dh(m) variant. I've been doing it "all-or-nothing" learning style via Monkeytype.
Thank you! For Colemak on keybr, the keyboard graphic sadly does not have a DHm variant, so I just printed out a paper and hung it on the wall while learning.
Also, be careful with vertical mice and split keyboards. I find them seriously uncomfortable since I position the mouse in the center and rotating your wrist upwards while your arm is resting in front of you is quite straining - it caused a lot of pain in my right collarbone.
In my experience, vertical mice only work with traditional keyboards. I've been using the same old Logitech mouse with the Moonlander and I find it works way better than vertical mice.
@@SemagGames Ah, I get it. Unfortunately my current keyboard does not allow layout swapping. In the meantime I found another site (Colemak Academy) which works great! :)
Oh very good point about split keyboards and vertical mice, thank you. In that case I am going to wait for now until my new keyboard arrives, and acclimate myself to the setup you describe instead.
Your advice has already helped, btw! In one day I greatly mitigated my right arm pain by gripping my mouse full-on with my palm! Thank you again for sharing this, I am sure it will help so many people!
Fantastic video. You say you take breaks, but I'm interested in what you might do when taking a break. Do you avoid a mouse and keeb for example?
Yes, breaks away from the computer during a work day are really important.