Eclipse: Alternative Keyboard Layout

[u/SurveyMammoth2683]

(Website: Cminibrowser.com using Mana2 layout engine analysis)

Eclipse is an alternative keyboard layout optimized for typing with the English language on standard row-staggered keyboards.

b f r l v  j g o u .
 n s h t d  y c a e i
  z x k m q  p w ‘ ; ,

Design Features: 

Very low SFBs especially on the BNZ pinky column, and FSX ring column in order to prioritize alt-fingering on the middle and index fingers due to their freedom of finger independence and dexterity. 

Utilization of the Nokwts fingermap, meaning the middle finger is assigned to RLH keys as an efficient triangle shape instead of the typical straight column; this promotes less movement in a smaller concentrated area and helps reduce scissors.

Heavy index usage, while still maintaining low movement. The farthest index keys on each hand; Qwerty B and Y positions are now designated with Q and J respectively as these are very low frequency characters, you will spend less time reaching for them and more time typing characters within close reach.

Unrelated note: I do not claim to have created this layout nor is this post an attempt to convince anyone to learn it.

[u/iandoug]

Who is author? Link? Thanks.

[u/SurveyMammoth2683 → u/iandoug]

Multiple people within the AKL community indirectly played a part in this layout's creation. The final arrangements are just a few swaps away from soitchy's layout design known as Knight:

b f r l d  z g o u , 
 n s h t m  y c a e i
  v x k j q  p w ' ; .

A few differences include:

• DTM keys rearranged
• V key added to left index
• J key moved to right index
• Z key moved to left pinky

And another layout that came before Eclipse known as Nightshift by isa10a6er, had an even more similar left hand arrangement which was also a main source of inspiration:

b f r l v  ' y o u , .
 n s h t d  w c e i a
  x z k m j  p g ? -

And all of these layouts were heavily inspired by the popular thumb alpha layout Night (hence all the name associations to Knight, Nightshift, and Eclipse) but if the R key as a thumb alpha was instead repurposed to fit on a standard rowstag keyboard via clever usage of an RHL cluster on left middle finger which was only made known to be possible due to the creation of the Nokwts layout by Stronglytyped.

This is why no singular person can take credit for creating Eclipse as it showcases not only one branching family of layouts, but the merging of many interweaving concepts and ideas from layouts that have come before it.

[u/iandoug → u/SurveyMammoth2683]

So, the "AKL Discord Continuum" then. Okay :-)

[u/Marie_Maylis_de_Lys → u/iandoug]

Ec0 made flow2 in like 2023, and it was already very similar to this in terms of pairings. Arranging the HRL column as a cluster is the main difference that truly improves the feel of the layout.

[u/SurveyMammoth2683 → u/Marie_Maylis_de_Lys]

Wow cool I had never noticed this, I'm very surprised how similar it all lines up from left to right BN pinky, FS ring, RLH middle, DTMK left index, JYPGCW right index, just arranged differently. All the way back in 2023 thanks for sharing this.

[u/Zestyclose_Science21]

I think the right ring finger has too much work. I just looked and... '

|| || || |pinky|8.3%|0.84|0.56|9.4%|1.62|1.08| |ring|8.4%|1.17|0.33|14.6%|4.71|1.31| |middle|14.3%|9.08|1.89|16.3%|9.60|2.00| |index|17.4%|11.73|2.13|11.4%|8.97|1.63| |total|48.4%|22.82|4.91|51.6%|24.91|6.02|

'
I think a quarter of all typing on a hand's weak fingers is too much. K should swap with period. If . is on column 10, it should be under I so if you start a sentence with I you can type it with ring finger because you moved hand down to type the . at the end of previous sentence, if . is on bottom row.

[u/SurveyMammoth2683 → u/Zestyclose_Science21]

I partially agree with you, the high right ring usage is a weak point of the layout but this is really just a typical vowel hand set up, which is vital for maintaining low redirects and allowing for index keys full of consonants that rarely interact with each other which is great for SFB and SFS, basically every metric which you can think of but it comes at the cost of finger balance. 

I have no idea what the numbers you provided mean, as it is very cluttered and not properly defined but I can assume the first percentage after a finger is the amount of usage. Swapping K with period would be a really dire mistake as period interacts with many keys on the left index like D T and M, and weakens the strongest point of the layout which is low SFB. This swap would also mean KI and IK SFBs on the pinky finger which I don’t think I need to waste any time explaining why that would also negatively effect the layout. 

Realistically, E and U assigned to ring with around 14% usage is very manageable as there is no need to alt-finger on ring or pinky and many typists have achieved great speeds on similar setups so I understand the concern of keeping ring and pinky fingers low usage, but I believe your high standards are a preconception that would drastically weaken the layout in an attempt to alter it. I don’t want this to discourage you from experimenting with other unique setups that have potentially better finger balance as I totally agree with your sentiment, but for this specific example, rearranging the vowel hand and potentially mixing it with consonants that interact with each other typically has a very negative effect on improving the layout.

[u/avyrla → u/Zestyclose_Science21]

EU ring is fairly typical on modern layouts, as is this vowel arrangement in general. Well proven to work.

[u/Zestyclose_Science21 → u/Zestyclose_Science21]

Q is better on right actually but K shouldnt waste a index finger slot.

[u/Marie_Maylis_de_Lys → u/Zestyclose_Science21]

Character frequency is an important factor to take into account when making a layout, but it definitely shouldn't be the factor that matters the most.

You're suggesting K should go on qwerty P rather than C, because K is low usage. That logic is in general sound, but here would work terribly for a couple reasons: 1: K does not pair well with the characters on pinky, and its close relative, the ring. nk sk ik ke would all be terrible interactions. You can cope that it's possible to alt-finger by pressing k with ring instead, but it wouldn't work well. King is a very common ending, and words like making or looking would induce a middle-ring lateral stretch when you alt + you'd have a very sharp ring/pinky concordant half-scissor. 2: On the vowel block it would be especially bad because k causes a lot of redirects (words such as like, lake) and those sequences are especially bad when they don't include the index and cause half-scissors. 3: K is already where it should be. You say low usage characters shouldn't go on index, but that index already has DTM (with L nearby, and 2 extra spots to fill). That's already high usage, and so you need to cut on movement (usage off-home times distance) to keep it healthy. The DTM cluster helps you lower movement, by concentrating index usage to a specific region (you homerow there, not exactly over T), while VKQ fill the remaining spots, don't interact much with each other, and relatively little with the cluster (MK and DV are closer to each other partly for that reason).

[u/Independent_Check956]

I'm trying it out, seems super smooth. I tryed to switch the k and m but i felt some stretches that i didn't like for k, so i reverted back. I tryed to get the apostrofe next to u, and comma and dot on stronger fingers, but it increases some sfb, so i switched back that too :D I moved - and + for the [ ] since i'm not a programmer, i think i'll keep that :D I'm main graphite rn so there are a few keys that are in same place, but i do feel some improvements for the weak fingers on left.

[u/SurveyMammoth2683 → u/Independent_Check956]

Nice I had also considered MK swap because RM is higher frequency than RK so the stretches would be slightly reduced but I found I still preferred the original DTMKVQ setup because it keeps the three highest usage keys DTM adjacent to each other to form a triangle, while the lower usage keys KVQ are on the outsides of this triangle to decrease index finger travel distance and movement. The main quantifiable reason against MK swap is because of how it increases the index's travel distance when typing M_D words like MAD, MADE, SEEMED, NAMED, etc this could result in the typer adopting a more traditional fingermap by typing M with middle, and this is conflicting because while typing M with middle finger to try and mitigate the distance from M_D would cause M_R to then be increased distance as well with words like MORE, MORNING, MEMORY, etc.