And I here like a moron using _layers_ in my corne with blank caps. Definitely gonna try to mod this to support at least two real layers per keyboard side.
If I understand correctly.. the ergodox was the first popular open source keyboard (or maybe the first split one).
But it was the Helix keyboard, and then the Corne which built upon that design, which lead to an explosion in popularity of these split keyboards for makers. Both of these were designed in Japan.