That's a really interesting concept. Either once they open source their build (or I get over my innate laziness) I could use something like that for my build at home (more of a horizontal stand style thing, looking at the monitor) - my laptop's primarily my second monitor at home with attached KB.
More fuel to help convince my wife the printer isn't a waste of money xD
I'd cut off the numberpad of my laptop, center the touchpad and what's left of the keyboard. That would be my ergonomic setup.
That laptop served me well but it was a compromise between several factors. I think that at the time there were only an handful of 15" laptops without a numberpad and probably it's still like that. I eventually had to give up on that to get other features.
Quite cool! I wonder if it doesn't wear down the laptop hinges to keep it at 180 degrees opened in an upright position. Could print some clamps for the sides to reduce strain if that's the case. Though that'd only work for laptops that actually _do_ open 180 degrees, according to TFA, not that many.
I have a "car desk", which is just a little expandable contraption you hang on the steering wheel, then you can place your laptop on it. I wouldn't call it ergonomic per se (the right external keyboard could probably fix that), but using it for about one hour per week, it works well and doesn't cause any issues I'm aware of. The driver seat is not a place where I previously could get any work done, so the bar is a bit low.
> I have a "car desk", which is just a little expandable contraption you hang on the steering wheel, then you can place your laptop on it.
I remember one of those on Amazon with like a thousand reviews that were all meme reviews about using it whilst driving. Cant find the exact one, but it was one of those many Amazon products full of joke reviews.
Hp has a lot of "convertible" laptops that open the full 360 if you want, usually with a touchsreen and two cameras so they can optionally be used as a tablet.
Getting computer work done inside a vehicle is not easy if comfort is a requirement. Driving posture is not generalisable.
The ergonomy of most laptops (and keyboards in general) is poor. The modern laptop that is most ergonomic is the "2 in 1" design, which can be folded and used as a tablet.
For a programmer, an ergonomic keyboard with a trackball, connected to a 2-in-1 portable in tablet mode, might be easiest to assemble from common components for working during travel.
Well, with the steering wheel desk contraption, the monitor is placed in front of the wind shield, looking there is what the front seat is designed for, so that part is neat.
The keyboard however, is over the steering wheel, and while the arm placement is _similar_ to holding the wheel, it's a bit awkward, typing on a keyboard and operating a steering wheel are just quite different movements.
I _think_ it'd be ergonomic if I had some kind of keyboard and mouse/trackpad solution elevated on my lap, but the steering wheel gets in the way of a standard lap desk pillow thing. It'd have to be split.
For my one hour per week I haven't bothered yet. But I do think I could come up with something that'd have similar strain to just driving the car. Which, yeah, is probably not as ergonomic as a good desk setup to begin with.
She should have a look at the Huawei Matebook. You can transform the screen into a big desktop sized screen. The only thing missing is a stand that brings it to an ergonomic height.
If my math is right it seems the cost in material for the printed part is around $5 which seems ridiculously cheap for a custom-designed and adapted solution like this. Nice!
I wish the author had spent a few words extra to motivate why it needs to be in PETG filament for "heat resistance", is the regular PLA limit of ~55 degrees Celsius not okay for a desktop accessory? I guess if it's in direct sunlight that might be exceeded, or perhaps if the laptop runs very hot?
I used ASA for something I intended to keep in my garage, I live in Florida so summer gets hot. ASA is way more heat resistant than both. My water boiler uses the heat within the garage as part of how it warms water so my garage doesnt get too hot but it can still feel pretty bad in there.
Glass transition temperatures are a little bit misleading, but from personal experience even leaving a PLA print in direct sunlight under even a little tension will cause it to warp in as little as 30 minutes if you aren't careful.
while I aplaud the very well thought out and implimented design for a computer interface
(it has very strong space ship vibes)
there is a fundamental flaw in the premise, in that ergonomics implys some optimisation of the physical(cardio) effort(impact, strain) and comfort of useing a tool, which is impossible while hunched over a static device making very small partial body movements. So this set up will very likely optimise well for speed run missions,but the cost will actualy be greater pressure and strain on a persons body overall, and the only answer for that is to fully detach, relax, exercise, and rest between missions.
This is obviously far more advanced, but I still think its a shame that the old style thinkpad dock didn't catch on more. For those who arent aware, the docks on old thinkpads used to double as a stand (and a lock too actually), originally connecting via a custom connector at the bottom of the laptop and then over dual usb-c slots.
I saw plenty in corporate environments but I think people mostly wanted to use a larger and better screen than what was available on a laptop at the time.
What I never saw in the wild but which was neat was the Powerbook Duo dock that pulled in the laptop like a front loading VCR tape, peak Sculley-period pointless complexity. It totally enclosed the laptop in a closed configuration, the idea being that you would put a monitor on top of the dock.
Excellent that people work on ergonomics, especially for moving away from the centenary typewriter model, but remember that 15’ of streching-exercise , call it yoga - taichi (anything with more than 1000 years :D) goes further than hours of the perfect static ergonomics
I guess for simple objects, 3D printing is already sufficiently useful.
I'd still like it to be much cheaper and simpler though. My own tinker
days are over; I kind of want to depend on what is cheap and reliable;
or at the least very reliable. I honestly can not warrant time investment
when things don't work or break down in yet-another-component of my already
way too many components heavy living conditions here. 3D printing should
be so simple that one never has to think about it. Or print a surrogate
3D printer, to have as a backup device. But what about the materials? I
guess plastics dominate.
OpenSCAD! My personal favorite 3D modeling software. Started using it a decade ago since it made sense to me as a coder and I've been too stubborn to use anything else.
For something like this, where you need durability, lightness, and heat resistance, you just can't be at ABS. If your printer can't print it, I think it's worth getting it printed somewhere else (after prototyping with other materials). Just the reduced weight alone will be worth it, let alone the fact that ABS is nigh indestructible.
My dream is where the the laptop itself has a similar design. Where when you open the laptop, the screen gets raised by about a foot. I can't really conceive of times when I need the laptop screen low, so one wouldn't need all the extra frame and parts needed in this mod.
I haven't conceived the exact mechanism for it, but it would be fun to try and do it for the Framework laptop.
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[ 2.2 ms ] story [ 49.1 ms ] threadMore fuel to help convince my wife the printer isn't a waste of money xD
That laptop served me well but it was a compromise between several factors. I think that at the time there were only an handful of 15" laptops without a numberpad and probably it's still like that. I eventually had to give up on that to get other features.
I have a "car desk", which is just a little expandable contraption you hang on the steering wheel, then you can place your laptop on it. I wouldn't call it ergonomic per se (the right external keyboard could probably fix that), but using it for about one hour per week, it works well and doesn't cause any issues I'm aware of. The driver seat is not a place where I previously could get any work done, so the bar is a bit low.
I remember one of those on Amazon with like a thousand reviews that were all meme reviews about using it whilst driving. Cant find the exact one, but it was one of those many Amazon products full of joke reviews.
The ergonomy of most laptops (and keyboards in general) is poor. The modern laptop that is most ergonomic is the "2 in 1" design, which can be folded and used as a tablet.
For a programmer, an ergonomic keyboard with a trackball, connected to a 2-in-1 portable in tablet mode, might be easiest to assemble from common components for working during travel.
The keyboard however, is over the steering wheel, and while the arm placement is _similar_ to holding the wheel, it's a bit awkward, typing on a keyboard and operating a steering wheel are just quite different movements.
I _think_ it'd be ergonomic if I had some kind of keyboard and mouse/trackpad solution elevated on my lap, but the steering wheel gets in the way of a standard lap desk pillow thing. It'd have to be split.
For my one hour per week I haven't bothered yet. But I do think I could come up with something that'd have similar strain to just driving the car. Which, yeah, is probably not as ergonomic as a good desk setup to begin with.
Surely the other missing thing is that it only runs a proprietary OS that nobody except Chinese companies develop apps for?
That's what I want, except it has the wrong stylus tech and the keyboard lacks a Trackpoint....
If my math is right it seems the cost in material for the printed part is around $5 which seems ridiculously cheap for a custom-designed and adapted solution like this. Nice!
I wish the author had spent a few words extra to motivate why it needs to be in PETG filament for "heat resistance", is the regular PLA limit of ~55 degrees Celsius not okay for a desktop accessory? I guess if it's in direct sunlight that might be exceeded, or perhaps if the laptop runs very hot?
What I never saw in the wild but which was neat was the Powerbook Duo dock that pulled in the laptop like a front loading VCR tape, peak Sculley-period pointless complexity. It totally enclosed the laptop in a closed configuration, the idea being that you would put a monitor on top of the dock.
The laptops had connections at the bottom that clicked into the docks/stands, which you could connect external screens/peripherals.
I like this way better. Despite the docks feeling cool as hell.
I'd still like it to be much cheaper and simpler though. My own tinker days are over; I kind of want to depend on what is cheap and reliable; or at the least very reliable. I honestly can not warrant time investment when things don't work or break down in yet-another-component of my already way too many components heavy living conditions here. 3D printing should be so simple that one never has to think about it. Or print a surrogate 3D printer, to have as a backup device. But what about the materials? I guess plastics dominate.
Cool stuff, you might already be using this but this roundedcube function has drastically improved the quality of my prints: https://gist.github.com/groovenectar/92174cb1c98c1089347e
I haven't conceived the exact mechanism for it, but it would be fun to try and do it for the Framework laptop.
https://www.ntietz.com/blog/my-portable-ergonomic-setup/
Specifically this image: https://www.ntietz.com/processed_images/keyboard-3.e1480955e...
I can't find the info in any of the blog posts and can't get anything useful by zooming in on any of the images.