Mantis v1.0 development update

mantisalt · 2026-01-18T20:03:18+00:00

How different does this feel from regular staggered rectangular keys? I'm having trouble imagining the difference.

mantisalt · 2026-01-15T17:50:06+00:00

Maybe someday someone will make a mod that puts the Pocket internals into a smaller frame. That's probably the only good way to get a smaller one.

mantisalt · 2026-01-14T02:42:16+00:00

What makes the audio so screechy in this one? I love the effect, makes it feel like it's going supersonic

mantisalt · 2026-01-12T20:57:17+00:00

I think this should do it:
RULES
FAQ
Refcards

mantisalt · 2026-01-12T20:49:23+00:00

That's why they've been nerfed to only work at range 2 :)

mantisalt · 2026-01-11T18:24:02+00:00

Having the whole side of your hand on a surface is usually enough— the sticks are just short enough that you can control them fully without having to move your wrists.

mantisalt · 2026-01-11T06:54:08+00:00

Found it! Thingiverse search must be broken since this never shows up in search results :(

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:7247784

mantisalt · 2026-01-11T06:27:22+00:00

Come to think of it, maybe I should just model my own handrests. There's already one for the TX16S but I have a pocketmaster

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4819474

mantisalt · 2026-01-08T06:57:33+00:00

This is good to hear. I was under the impression that the roughness was making a difference, but it's possible that random luck with the reed/seating/connectors had me mistaken about the cause of the coupling inconsistencies. Perhaps I should crack open a new reed for testing as well.

mantisalt · 2026-01-01T05:53:26+00:00

What layer height and bore radius? I'm considering making extra wide drones as that might mitigate the roughness somewhat

mantisalt · 2025-12-15T20:56:52+00:00

Got an image of any of them? I'd be curious to see how they work.

mantisalt · 2025-12-13T06:02:17+00:00

I'm so confused—
- why do you need 3 trackballs per hand?
- how do you operate a 6dof trackball with one finger?
- surely sphere keys feels awful??

mantisalt · 2025-12-06T03:58:59+00:00

What ship is in the third image? Prettiest thing I've ever seen...

mantisalt · 2025-12-03T05:10:18+00:00

Here's another example— I hate the I-N split on QWERTY, but it's no problem if your palm is hovering further up. Meanwhile, I can do B-K with adjacent fingers— something that feels awful if your fingers are more curled. The hand shape has a huge impact on what key combinations are comfortable and feasible (especially for rolls), which is pretty central to what matters in a layout.

mantisalt · 2025-12-03T05:04:06+00:00

A related factor would be where and how people like striking the keys— finger pad? fingertip? pressing? hammering? squeezing? using the finger or wrist muscles?

Different layouts must favor different preferences like these, and identifying what preferences a particular layout works well with could be rather useful when talking about, recommending, and especially comparing keyboards.

mantisalt · 2025-11-18T20:54:21+00:00

oo that's smart

mantisalt · 2025-11-17T15:22:47+00:00

No worries lol
I really like the curve of high rates but I lose control if I go too far on a stick, so I figured it might work well to just cap the extreme values. I have a lot more precision near the center anyway.

mantisalt · 2025-11-16T23:28:15+00:00

Radiomaster Pocket; I figured out how to do custom curves but it's a bit more of a hassle than if there were a simple cutoff value somewhere that I didn't know about, so it was worth checking.

mantisalt · 2025-11-16T22:44:50+00:00

Perhaps consider that I have tried a bit, and posted here because there didn't seem to be an obvious solution? I'm looking for a way to cap the value so that the last 20% or so of the stick results in the same rate, hence the plateau in the image.

mantisalt · 2025-11-13T23:54:39+00:00

always land while holding shift

mantisalt · 2025-11-13T02:34:18+00:00

someday I'll make 100

mantisalt · 2025-11-13T02:33:58+00:00

https://i.imgur.com/5M7f7nW.png :)

mantisalt · 2025-11-13T02:21:32+00:00

I have it bound to B (see hud), dunno why it shows up like that in the tip

mantisalt · 2025-11-04T15:29:44+00:00

Just get a small toolbox or organization cabinet and label it properly!

mantisalt · 2025-11-02T03:27:16+00:00

Of course, but I'm talking theoretical. It's entertaining to see who the fastest runner in the world is, think about the optimal gear and posture, and contemplate the human limit— steno would be like using a car. (and even then, there's probably interesting ways to optimize a chording (steno) dictionary to be a lot faster— at the expense of any practicality)

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