Macro Keypad
A desk keypad with tap, hold and sticky layers — one physical key doing three jobs without ambiguity.
- Three input gestures — tap, hold (≥200 ms) and sticky — layered on the same keys
- Sticky keys latch like a flip-flop, so a layer stays selected without being held
- Drives desk, monitor, task lamp and ambient lighting scenes
A wall switch has one action per key, which means a desk with six controllable things needs six switches. Adding layers fixes that, but only if the gestures are unambiguous enough that you never have to think about them.
Gesture model
- Tap — press and release quickly. The default action.
- Hold — 200 ms or longer. Selects a layer while held.
- Sticky — latches on like a flip-flop, so a layer can be selected and left selected rather than held down with a spare finger.
The 200 ms threshold is the whole design. Shorter and normal taps start registering as holds; longer and the keypad feels laggy because you are waiting on it to make up its mind.
Sticky mode is what makes the layout usable one-handed — it is the difference between a chord and a mode. Layers cover the desk light, the monitor backlight, a task lamp and the ambient scene, each of which is a tap away once the layer is latched.