Keyboard Builders' Digest / Inspiration
Atalante
Gakuto Mikumo introduced his Atalante, a unibody angled split keyboard with arrow clusters on both sides.
Published April 1, 2023
While not open-source (yet?), Gakuto Mikumo, designer of the Atalante (アタランテ), wrote a blog post about this monoblock split keyboard featuring arrow clusters on both sides – which is a rather uncommon characteristic of ergo splits.
Gakuto, who by the way writes novels and fantasy/mystery fiction (check out his works here), was inspired by @Salicylic_acid3's ErgoArrows. In fact, the Atalante's layout is basically very similar to that of the ErgoArrows just without the number row. However, the original one is a true split and comes with MX alphas (only the arrow cluster parts are low-profile), and there are other differences as well.
ErgoArrows / ErgoArrowsPro has an inverted T-shaped (convex) arrow key cluster, which is rare for a self-made keyboard with a column staggered layout. I personally use the arrow keys very often, so this arrow key cluster is the reason why I can't let go of ErgoArrows – Gakuto.
The name is borrowed from a Greek mythological heroine, Atalanté or Atalanta, and given also the A-shaped cover in the middle of the board, it fits the Arrows→Bow→Archer topic well.
No design files available as of writing this post:
The first prototype of this keyboard was just completed yesterday [March 26]. I like it, but there are still many improvements that need to be made. I hope to share data on it as a practical product, but it will be a while yet! – Gakuto.
Specs
- 62 keys
- low profile, Choc v1 switches
- Choc spacing (18x17mm) with CFX caps
- arrow clusters
- Pro Micro footprint
- Underglow, rotary encoder
- Remap compatible
Resources
- For more information on Atalante in its current state, here is the author's blog post: https://ninthsky.hatenablog.com/entry/atalante
- https://gact.info/
- ErgoArrows on booth.pm
- ErgoArrows on yushakobo.jp
Published on Sat 1st Apr 2023. Featured in KBD #118.
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