Capewell keyboard layout
Capewell is a 2005 layout generated by an evolutionary algorithm to cut finger movement by about half compared with QWERTY while keeping Z, X, C and V in place for shortcuts.
- Created by
- Michael Capewell
- Year
- 2005
- Capewell-Dvorak, 2004
- Finger travel
- −45%
- vs QWERTY
- Home row
- 67%
- of letters, QWERTY 37%
The layout
The Capewell layout (version 0.9.3), evolved by computer, with Z, X, C and V kept at the bottom left.
Capewell is typed with standard touch-typing fingering on any keyboard.
How Capewell measures
Capewell typed on 23,331 words of English and compared with QWERTY.
History
- 2004Michael Capewell makes Capewell-Dvorak, a hand-tuned fix for what bothered him about Dvorak, such as the scattered Z, X, C and V.
- 2005Inspired by Peter Klausler’s Evolved program, he writes Keyboard Evolve and lets it generate the Capewell layout.
- LaterHe releases it up to version 0.9.3 as work in progress, then stops working on layouts.
Design goal: Cut finger movement by about half against QWERTY and favour comfortable same-hand combinations, with Z, X, C and V kept for shortcuts.
Pros
- Z, X, C and V stay in place, so undo, cut, copy and paste do not move.
- Generated by a published program with explicit goals.
- Cuts finger movement by about half against QWERTY.
Cons
- It never reached version 1.0, and development has stopped.
- The installers came from a website that is now offline.
- Several overlapping variants (Capewell-Dvorak, QWERF and Capewell 0.9) make it confusing to pick up.
Capewell compared
Against QWERTY and other research and ergonomic layouts, ranked by finger travel per 1,000 words.
| Layout | Finger travel | vs QWERTY | Home row | Same finger | Alternation | Left hand |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Halmak | 69.2 m | −47% | 65% | 3.3% | 66% | 51% |
| MTGAP | 70.6 m | −46% | 65% | 1.3% | 63% | 49% |
| CapewellTHIS PAGE | 72.0 m | −45% | 67% | 1.8% | 50% | 49% |
| Arensito | 72.4 m | −44% | 67% | 1.6% | 52% | 52% |
| Soul | 73.2 m | −44% | 67% | 1.6% | 56% | 48% |
| RSTHD | 73.2 m | −44% | 70% | 1.2% | 57% | 45% |
| BEAKL 15 | 87.4 m | −33% | 59% | 3.4% | 68% | 49% |
| QWERTY | 130.0 m | — | 37% | 6.5% | 55% | 57% |
Questions
SourcesCapewell was created by Michael Capewell in 2005, generated by his own evolutionary program.
It moves your fingers less. On 23,331 words of English, finger travel was −45% against QWERTY, 67% of letters landed on the home row against QWERTY’s 37%, and same-finger pairs were 1.8% against 6.5%. Less movement does not guarantee more speed, and switching takes weeks of practice.
Capewell is typed with standard touch-typing fingering on any keyboard.
Yes. Choose Capewell as your keyboard layout and the on-screen keyboard and hands show where every key is.