Anymak and Spacemak -- a new ergonomic layout concept to be used with any alphanumeric layout. Kanata contributions welcome!

[rpnfan]

In an attempt to create a super comfortable typing experience I came up with a new layout and layer concept called Anymak. One unique benefit is that the fingering is exactly the same on any standard and also split (columnar) ergo keyboard. This is not the case for other concepts like Miryoku, Seniply, Callum style mods or others.

Anymak makes use of several common techniques, but combining them in a form I have not seen before. One can approach Anymak as a series of steps to make, where the first ones do not require any changes to the used alphanumeric layout. The final step is new to my knowledge and has not been suggested before and makes Anymak a really new concept as a whole.

The last steps, aimed to achieve ultimate typing comfort, let go of a few key positions on a standard keyboard (2 on an ANSI and 3 on an ISO-board), which are not used any longer for typing text. That is the B-key position on a standard keyboard and the right shift key position. This requires a small adaption of the alphanumeric layout you are using (QWERTY, Colemak, Dvorak...) or a layout designed around the available key positions. I myself have developed a custom layout for English, German and Dutch.

On a split ergo board the layout scheme looks like that.

But you should read the the article to fully understand the concept, there is more than you can directly see from that layout sketch.
If you are interested to learn more read my Anymak article and possible also the article with general considerations to create an ergonomic setup, both published on kbd.news. A third article coming will be discussing custom alphanumeric layouts and give some additional tips of useful tools to complement the Anymak approach.

I have uploaded my kanata file on my Anymak Github repo. If you are interested in coming up with your own Anymak variant you can use that as a starting point. When that can be useful for others as well, it can be published on the Anymak or Spacemak page. Spacemak is the light variant of Anymak, which does not need any changes to the used alphanumeric layout.

The first one interested in using Spacemak as a first step to possibly use Anymak has just posted. Feel free to join there when you find Spacemak interesting or start a discussion in the Anymak repo if you have questions or want to contribute there.

--- extra info: possibly progression from SpaceFN to Spacemak and finally Anymak ---

When you want to create a smooth route from Spacemak to Anymak the following can be great steps, assuming one is using standard QWERTY and no custom stuff at all at the moment:

1. Use the Navigation/ Editing/ Shortcut layer (SpaceFN concept)
2. Add the CapsLock key position as a layer-key (one-shot or held) to put extra symbols or a number pad or mouse controls on the right-hand side
3. Add bottom-row-mods
   ----- from here changes to the defaults are made -----
4. Optionally move the the Shift-keys position to held / (and the symmetric ISO-key if applicable). Note that this step is potentially the one, which needs some fiddling around with timings to work as you want. Anymak has the advantage that for typing text you do not have any timed dependencies. That is the trade-off one chooses.
5. Optionally add a layer-key on the right-hand side at the '-quote key position. Put ' and " on the symbol layer.

With this setup you gain so much already. Anymak would then continue with

6. Change Shift and Layer keys to one-shot and move the relevant symbols you loose to the symbol layer. I find that a serious benefit.
7. Optionally arrange your layout to not use the B-key position on a standard keyboard.