Concave keywells
The keywells are scooped into a concave shape to reduce hand and finger extension. Hands rest in a natural, relaxed position, with the fingers curled down to the keys. Keycap heights are varied to match the different lengths of your fingers. The result is less muscle tension and a shorter reach for keys which increases efficiency and reduces fatigue.
Separate keywells for each hand
Separating the keywells positions the arms at shoulder-width to keep wrists straight and perpendicular to the home row. Typing with straight wrists is essential in avoiding injuries because it reduces abduction and ulnar deviation which can lead to pain and injury.
Separate thumb keys
The thumb keypad includes often used keys such as Enter, Space, Backspace, Delete and the combination keys, Control and Alt on the PC (Command and Option on the Macintosh). This redistributes the workload away from your relatively weaker and overused little fingers to stronger thumbs as well eliminating extension for these more distant keys.
20-degrees of tenting
The two keywells are “tented” at an optimal 20 degree angle moderately raising the thumb side of the hand Tenting puts you in a more neutral, “handshake” posture and reduces the stresses caused by forearm pronation and static muscle tension.
Vertical key layout
The keys are arranged in vertical columns (“orthogonally”) to better reflect the natural motion of your fingers. The staggered keys found on conventional keyboards are just an artifact of the original typewriter design and only serve to slow you down. Vertical keys reduce awkward extension and travel, and they also increase speed, accuracy, and overall comfort.
Palm supports
The integrated palm supports reduce stressful bending of the wrists (extension) and provide a convenient place to rest your hands when you are not actively typing. Self-adhesive, cushioned palm pads (included) can be attached for maximum comfort.
Cherry MX (Brown) Low-force, tactile keyswitches
The Advantage2 (KB600 model) utilizes the Cherry MX low-force tactile switch (brown stem). It is a semi-custom low force tactile design created in 1992 to Kinesis’ specifications. “Tactility” is a slightly elevated force around the midpoint of the stroke of the key which lets you know the switch is about to be activated. A tactile response is preferred by many ergonomists, because it cues yourfingers that activation is about to occur and is thought to reduce the likelihood or incidence or “bottoming out” the switch with a hard impact. The peak (tactile) force is ~55gm, following by an activation force of ~45 gm.
Cherry ML mechanical function keys
Long-time Advantage users will rejoice to learn that Kinesis has replaced the mushy, rubber function keys with high-performance Cherry ML switches that offer the same low-force and tactile properties of the MX Brown.
Smaller footprint
The Advantage2 may look big, but it actually has a smaller footprint than a traditional keyboard and even many “ergonomic” keyboards because we eliminated the numeric 10-key. A smaller footprint lets you place the mouse closer to your body, reducing painful “over-reach”. To satisfy number crunchers, we embedded a traditional 10-key in the right key well.
Sculpted home row
Learning a new keyboard can be difficult. That’s why Kinesis has designed custom “cupped” keycaps for the home row to keep you anchored while typing.
