> A lot of people don't want to take the time and/or lose the flow due to shifting the hands away from the keyboard and in particular orientation with the home row.

TrackPoint. You want a TrackPoint.

I liked the idea but it never exhibited the dynamic performance (accelleration-to-distance/decelleration-to-precision) of a trackpad which is why I think it faded away, even at IBM.

>which is why I think it faded away You do realise trackpoints still exist on all new thinkpads and some Dell and HP laptops? the reason they never became popular is that they are ont easy to master as soon as you first use them. the muscle patterns take a fair bit of getting used to before you get out of the awkward stage. However once you do they are as precise (if not more so) than touchpads with out having to move you hands into an entirely new position (much like this touchpad keyboard) however I think for this new keyboard to be effective, the activation force on the keys is going to need to be too high to resist accidental keypresses while using as a touchpad. I think I'll stick with the trackpoint thanks.

This keyboard reminds me a lot pf my Tex Yoda II. Check ot out if you like TrackPoints.

I'm dreaming of a keyboard where the touchpad would be placed in the middle between the two halves for left and right hand. Because arms aren't growing in front of people's bodies (as e.g. Kinesis well know). Still waiting for which manufacturer has this idea first.

But the thing in the post might be a better solution if both the keyboard and the touchpad work well. A great illustration of the classic principle: good design compromises in a contradiction, clever design eliminates the contradiction.

There's split keyboards that have a trackball in the middle, like the Ultimate Hacker Keyboard[0]. There's also the KeyMouse[1], which is two wireless mice with split mechanical keyboards built into them

[0]https://ultimatehackingkeyboard.com/ [1]https://ultimatehackingkeyboard.com/