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WRAEK think they can change PC gaming with the Tactonic Pro

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The WRAEK Tactonic Pro is currently doing rounds because the team believe they can change gaming, by giving you an ultra-sensitive palm rest that you use in-game for movements. Is it time for a revolution on PC inputs?

With the basic idea being that you rest your palm on their special pad, which will detect your wiggling movements and convert it into actual movements in-game. They say it acts like a thumbstick, and it can "detect as little as 10g of force" with "isometric force technology found in joysticks of combat fighter jets but in a miniaturized version". Designed to sit underneath a tenkeyless keyboard, it's also magnetic to stick to the casing if your keyboard has a metal build.

Have a look below:

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To go along with it, they're also doing their own WRAEK Tactonic Keyboard which is a fully customisable, tenkeyless mechanical keyboard. What's really great to see though, is how Linux has clearly been making more waves - enough for this hardware vendor to target it too. They said their software is fully compatible with Linux!

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If you're interested you can check out their Kickstarter. It has 32 days to go and it's fully funded.

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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Purple Library Guy Feb 9, 2022
Quoting: TcheySeems like so many other "game changing" keyboards.
A touchpad for your palm is like a game changing keyboard?

They're not saying the keyboard is game changing, they're saying the separate thing, sold separately, under the keyboard is game changing. I'm skeptical, but it's a different claim.
Termy Feb 9, 2022
It would surely require some getting used to, but i can imagine it might be a nice thing for at least some. TKL is no option for me though, so at least i'm not spoilt for choice ^^

Seeing HW vendors adoption Linux is a great thing though!
demencia89 Feb 9, 2022
What's the mmo from 0:36?
Nezchan Feb 9, 2022
Quoting: demencia89What's the mmo from 0:36?

Based on the fonts alone it looks like FF XIV.
denyasis Feb 10, 2022
Quoting: OneSubtractOneI dunno if any of you have ever gamed on a laptop with a touchpad, but if you HAVE, you'll know how frustrating it is to be mid game, and hit the touchpad by mistake with your palm, and then die horribly cos your character is spinning or something.
Is this gonna be that, only intentional? Cos that would be horrific.

I literally was thinking almost the same thing!! Except instead of gaming, I was thinking of the times I've been typing a report only to realize I accidentally touched the touchpad, moved the cursor, and my last five sentences are now in the middle of a different paragraph....

It was so annoying to me, I actually bought a laptop that had the touchpad above the keyboard!

Maybe I'm being to cynical...
furaxhornyx Feb 10, 2022
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Looks like quicker wrist pain
Philadelphus Feb 10, 2022
What wristy wrack hath WRAEK wrought? Readily in evidence is the wreck wreaked on hapless wrenched wrists, restlessly arrested above the touchpad, rapidly escalating into wreckage as they relentlessly wrestle gravity so that your character isn't suddenly wrested into roving abreast of a wretched reckoning wreathed with enemy fire when least expected! At least when using WASD* at present I can rest my wrist on the wrist-rest reckless of consequence.

*Which is, I reckon, 10% of my library, at best?


Last edited by Philadelphus on 10 February 2022 at 6:41 am UTC
Purple Library Guy Feb 10, 2022
Quoting: PhiladelphusWhat wristy wrack hath WRAEK wrought? Readily in evidence is the wreck wreaked on hapless wrenched wrists, restlessly arrested above the touchpad, rapidly escalating into wreckage as they relentlessly wrestle gravity so that your character isn't suddenly wrested into roving abreast of a wretched reckoning wreathed with enemy fire when least expected! At least when using WASD* at present I can rest my wrist on the wrist-rest reckless of consequence.
What is this? I said, bring me a wench!
MayeulC Feb 10, 2022
Quoting: TcheySeems like so many other "game changing" keyboards.

Just the same stupid non orthogonal QWERTY layout with some more options around.
It’s time the world opens out from QWERTY and similar (like AZERTY in France).

The TypeMatrix BÉPO is not the perfect keyboard, but it’s so better than AZERTY already... Also BÉPO was approuved as the second official French standard a couple years ago, so that’s something. Even if it’s almost impossible to find one in regular shops, at least you can buy stikers, or proper BÉPO from internet (overpriced) stores.

In english, i think the DVORAK jaout or something alike is "superior" but still marginal ? Not sure about non-french stuff though.

TypeMatrix is not the only game in town when it comes to ortholinear/orthocolumnar: I use a nice ergodox EZ, and I'm very happy about it.

For gaming, having the ability to game without moving your hand from the home row (ESDF instead of WASD/ZQSD) is really nice, it gives you better access to more buttons. I have a special "gaming" layer that remaps those to WASD, and removes the escape/meta/alt buttons that are typically under my left hand. The real shame is that the keyboard firmware still needs to interact with drivers, so you can't produce arbitrary unicode codepoints on arbitrary keys.

It's a small improvement, but I still regret the lack of analog control and force feedback in keyboards.

I also agree with you on layouts, though we don't even see the AFNOR-approved AZERTY keyboard in French stores (LDLC hinted at something, maybe?). I need to try BÉPO, but for now I'm quite happy with my fully custom layout and blank keyboard.
14 Feb 12, 2022
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Quoting: OneSubtractOneI dunno if any of you have ever gamed on a laptop with a touchpad, but if you HAVE, you'll know how frustrating it is to be mid game, and hit the touchpad by mistake with your palm, and then die horribly cos your character is spinning or something.
Is this gonna be that, only intentional? Cos that would be horrific.
That's exactly what I was thinking. My laptop actually disables the touchpad for milliseconds at a time when it detects key presses. Not a good setting for a program like Blender, but I don't do anything serious like that on my laptop anyway.

But, if you're doing it on purpose, maybe it could be used to steer a car with an analog feeling instead of fully on / full off when you use keys. Or maybe it will be a way to make fun of people because the only use you can think of is adult games.
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