> if you can touchtype fluently then VR works fine, but if not, it's going to be challenging to use.

I am of the belief that if you are trying to increase your productivity whilst mobile with small/light stuff, nothing weighs less or takes up less space in your luggage than some touch typing training software.

I can’t believe that there are people who type as much as some of us do who haven’t bothered to learn to type. It’s an essential skill.

Funnily enough, I learned to touch type because tables at my uni were high enough to make typing uncomfortable.

Putting my Magic Keyboard on my lap was much better, but without being able to see, I couldn't type well.

Spent 10 minutes a day over the next couple weeks learning Colemak (easier than retraining myself on QWERTY). Being able to touch type numbers is great while programming.

@sneak The near-term dream goal/dream is installing something like Simula on a standalone VR headset, and pairing it with a bluetooth (perhaps even "pocket" bluetooth keyboard) to replace a laptop.

Touch typing + bluetooth keyboard + VR headset = insane productivity potential.

Do you have any light/portable BT keyboards you like? I somewhat loathe the iPad Pro’s keyboard cover but every light BT I’ve ever tried was plasticky loud garbage. Do you have any recommendations?

I've had reasonable succcess with this one: https://www.amazon.com/iClever-Bluetooth-Keyboard-Foldable-S...

I like its compact design (it fits in a pocket), and it's very satisfying to fold/unfold :] That said, I don't use it that often because I find smartphone screen sizes too small.

It arrived today. The number keys, and thus important keys like ! and @, are in the wrong places, and (this one is on me, I should have looked before buying) it is also lacking an ESC key, which is largely the point for me of buying another keyboard.

I have the iPad Pro with keyboard cover and I keep it in my bag most of the time even when I don't have a laptop, so that's the standard I'm trying to beat. It would be nice to have something I could pair to my phone (the largest phone Apple sells) to use a terminal when on the go, but I guess I'll just keep carrying my handbag with iPad for now. I hear Apple is going to improve the iPad Pro's keyboard this year.

Oh well.

> if you can touchtype fluently then VR works fine, but if not, it's going to be challenging to use.

Couldn't you just render the keyboard (+ finger positions I guess) inside the VR.

FWIW Simula (shown above) has a mouse & keyboard view. Here's a short video showing what it looks like: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5c3Hfp8Hcw

Use chording! Chording is (maybe?) similar to sign language and so "glyphs" or "chords" could be recognized by camera or finger position sensors.

I think finger position sensors would be more ideal than camera recognition, since there are many times your fingers could become obfuscated behind other fingers or if you rotate your hand. RFID tags are cheap and can use passive power. I imagine with a bracelet transmitter and positioning device they could be tracked in real time and attached to the finger tips using a reusable adhesive. Should require minimal calibration and then would allow for new touch inputs for almost any device that is calibrated along with it. Could even make regular monitors touch screen.

@theptip I understand your skepticism, but people significantly underrate the quality of text that can be achieved in VR, even on today's hardware. Simula in particular has put in a lot of work in text resolution optimization (something that earlier VR Desktops failed completely at). This makes me able to use Simula for hours at a time, even on the old HTC Vive (2016 hardware). I won't lie and say it is equally impressive as a 4K monitor is today, but it's definitely usable and allows you to garner the other benefits of VR Desktop (10x more screens, 10x the size, 10x the focus/work immersions).

RE headset size, I agree that today they are much too bulky. But they are still good enough to "live in the future" and get serious work done in.

If you have an HTC Vive/Vive Pro/Valve Index, I can help you install Simula/give it a try. Contact me at george.w.singer [at] gmail [dot] com if you're interested.

Please don't post the same thing over and over.

But I don't know about "significantly underrate" either. The screens in the video you linked are 93x44 characters. It's certainly usable, but just my main screen holds 8 windows that size with a generous font and room to spare.