I used machine learning to create the world's worst (and best) keyboard layouts. Along the way I learned how QWERTY came to be, how simulated annealing works, and got a little better at typing.

Full code at: https://github.com/AtomicFrontierCode...
Music by Julian, camera by Julia, story by James.

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This video was brought to you by an unhealthy amount of coffee (ok, but seriously I have a problem) and our awesome Patrons at   / atomicfrontier  .

0:00 I get a brilliant idea
0:22 QWERTY origins
3:37 Hill climbing
4:35 Why QWERTY sucks
5:35 Simulated annealing
9:30 World's best keyboards
11:56 World's worst keyboard
13:58 A keyboard for geese

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Hi, I'm James. I explore the world looking for engineering stories which explore complex issues in interesting ways. I studied Mechanical Engineering from the University of Western Australia and am currently undertaking a PhD in space robotics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

My website is https://www.atomicfrontieronline.com, I occasionally tweet from   / atomicfrontiers  , and you can join the Atomic Frontier Discord server to talk about cool engineering stuff at   / discord  . You can help support my work and see some cool behind-the-scenes content at   / atomicfrontier  .