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5. Ergonomic Features
The design of the Advantage2 keyboard traces its roots to the very rst contoured keyboard made by Kinesis in the early
1990s. Kinesis set out to develop a design that would prioritize ergonomics over everything else, and would address the
major risk-factors associated with keyboarding. Every aspect of the form factor was thoroughly researched and tested.
Separate thumb keypads
The thumb keypads feature commonly used keys such as Enter, Space,
Backspace, and Delete. Modier keys such as Control and Alt on the PC , and
Command and alt Option on Macs have also been relocated to the thumb
keypads. Windows users will appreciate a Windows key in the right thumb
keypad. By moving these commonly used keys to the thumbs, the Advantage2
redistributes the workload from your relatively weaker and overused little
ngers, to your stronger thumbs.
Separate key wells for each hand
Separating the key wells reduces strain and stretching by positioning your arms approximately at shoulder width and with
the wrists straight. This design reduces abduction and ulnar deviation which are harmful postures that can lead repetitive
strain injuries such as carpal tunnel syndrome and tendonitis.
Concave key wells
Concave key wells reduces hand and nger extension. Extension
occurs when the joints in your ngers curl up and extend forward
from your hands rather than relaxing down slightly in the direction of
the palms. A at typing surface assumes that your ngers are all of
the same length, thus your longer ngers must arch up over the keys.
The result is extension of the muscles and tendons in your hands. Your
muscles do not operate at maximum efciency and the result is more
rapid muscle fatigue. Concave key wells reduce extension by accommodating the various lengths of your ngers and placing
your hands and ngers in a more relaxed and neutral position.
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