Your hands weren't meant for regular keyboards
TAIKO-01 was designed for hand health
Split concave design
Customizable typing experience
Form meets function
Designed around how your hands actually move
Split in two for neutral wrist alignment
Neutral wrist alignment: Natural, relaxed typing position
High ulnar deviation: Wrists bent outward under stress
Curved for natural finger extension
Relaxed hand position: Fingers extend naturally
Claw hand position: Fingers flexed under stress
Angled to reduce wrist pronation
Reduced pronation: Reduces twisting of the wrist
Increased pronation: Increases twisting of the wrist
By founder David Ma, MD, CCFP
The problem
I developed carpal tunnel syndrome and wrist tendinosis from years of typing on flat keyboards. These hardware were never designed with our hands. As a clinician, I knew what was wrong, but nothing on the market nailed it down.
The process
So I built it myself. We've tested countless 3D-printed prototypes, gathering feedback and iterating until the biomechanics were right. TAIKO-01 was the result of this process.
More keys, without overstretching your hands
Easily access >180 keys using layers
Press a layer key and another key at the same time to activate keys on a different layer.
For example, pressing LOWER and 6 produces F6 here. This can be customized to any key or macro using Taiko Toolbox, QMK, Vial or VIA.
Latest Updates
Stay up to date with our latest features and improvements
Taikohub Toolbox Redesign
Highlights
- Can be found here
- Updated the UI
- Added explanations for action types that were obscure or unintuitive
- Removed action types unlikely to be used by most people
- Removed additional layers. These will be re-added in a future update
You can preview the Taikohub Toolbox on our website here. We'd love to hear any feedback.
Keycap Layout
Update: Another delay. We've made more design improvements in the meantime. Looking for your input on keycap designs.
Highlights
- Project delayed due to misalignment with our previous engineering firm
- We took matters into our own hands and resolved over 30 geometry issues
- Redesigned enclosure attachment and improved screw inserts
- New engineering firm contracted to take us the rest of the way
- Custom XDA keycap samples arriving in 2 weeks. Please share your thoughts on layouts and colors
Introducing Taikohub Toolbox
Not everyone who needs an ergonomic keyboard wants to compile firmware from the command line. We've built a solution for that.
Highlights
- We made a web-based application for customizing keyboard keymaps
- No software installation or command-line knowledge required
We'll continue developing and refining the Taikohub Toolbox as we approach launch. If you have suggestions for features you'd like to see, we'd love to hear them.
About This Project: From Carpal Tunnel to Clinical Research
Highlights
- How this project started
- Founded by a Canadian family doctor who developed carpal tunnel syndrome
- Ultimate goal to conduct clinical studies and register as a medical device
- Bridge between clinical evidence and ergonomic design
Thank you for being part of this journey.
3D Printing to Injection Molding: Design Challenges
Highlights
- Some improvements can't be made incrementally to existing design
- Hotswap functionality faces geometric constraints with injection molding
Delay to Optimize Manufacturing
Update: We're delaying the keyboard release by 3 months, with a new expected launch for end of March 2026. The design is nearly complete, but we need to ensure it's optimized for mass manufacturing.
Highlights
- Design is getting closer to completion with significant progress made
- Release delayed by 3 months to optimize for manufacturability
Prototype Demo
Highlights
- This is an SLA (Stereolithography) 3D printed prototype
- Overall, the keyboard felt quite comfortable during testing
- The reduced keyboard height made it easier to maintain proper hand position above the keyboard
- The video primarily showcases thumb positioning - finger typing demonstration will come in a later video
Project Timeline
Expecting design to be finalized in January. Pre-orders will open once the design is finalized. Please note that if we feel the design isn't ready by that time, we'll delay the launch. Of course, we'd let you know if this happens.
Hotswapping Mechanism Demo
Highlights
- 3D printed prototype showcases hotswapping mechanism
- PCB remains fixed even when all switches are removed
- Thumb section uses a flat surface design (not shown as it works conventionally)
- The sudden cut from top-down to side view was due to accidentally breaking the phone stand during filming!
Failed Experiment: Sandwich Layer Design
Highlights
- Experimented with a design that clamps switches between two layers
- Material imitations at 1 mm thickness made it impractical
- Learned valuable lesson on injection molding constraints and material properties
Changed Thumb Cluster
Highlights
- Redesigned keyboard with more comfortable thumb cluster, based on user testing
- The new top keyboard case is shown above
- We tested the original keyboard with several people and realized there was room for improvement for the thumb cluster
- Then we tested different thumb cluster variations and picked the most comfortable one