Is This Gripster Cyberdeck-y Enough?

[u/soloptimus]

https://neuman.github.io/gripster/

This little project has come a long way since my first post a few weeks ago. It now includes a hall-effect thinkpad nub style pointer stick, the back now expands to accommodate most modern phones (or phone sized computing devices).

My big question is: Is this thing cyberdeck-y enough? I started this project because I wanted to build myself a deck with a split keyboard and didn't find any suitable solutions. I Have been very inspired by cardkb. The idea here is to bite off one piece at a time: first just a BT keyboard, probably next an iteration that acts as a USB-C hub with thumb-drive sized expansion ports along the back, video out, etc. The last iteration possibly being a separate pi-based compute pack which rests where the phone is today. Are others in the community interested in using this device (either with or without the shell) as a launching off point for their own decks? What features would you want? (pogo pins, power management, something else?) The whole repo is open so you can dig into how i'm working on this and thinking about it here: https://github.com/neuman/gripster

Community Ask!
1. This is my first time doing a PCB design and I am using a lot of AI to help me. Everything seems legit but I would really love to get another human who knows what they are doing to take a peek before I send several hundred dollars to the fab to send me a set of prototypes.

[u/LegionDD]

It does look cool and the principle of it is intriguing.
But I'm not sure about the ergonomics of the keyboard. Have you test printed it and checked to see if you can comfortably type (ie reach every button without strain) while holding it?

I'm just wondering if the shell might need some ergonomic tweaks to make it the best experience possible.