Has anyone tried using foot pedals in addition to the traditional keyboard and mouse combo to improve your effectiveness in the editor? Any actual experiences out there? Does it work, or is it just for carpal tunnel relief?

I found one blog entry from a programmer who actually tried it:

So now I can type using my feet for most of the modifier keys. I am using the pedals as I type this. I am still getting used to them, but the burning in my left wrist has definitely reduced. I think I can also type a little faster, but I am too lazy to do the speed tests with and without the pedals to verify this. On the negative side:

• Working out where to put your feet when you aren’t typing can be a little awkward.
• The pedals tend to move around the carpet, despite being metal and quite heavy. Some small spikes might have helped.
• Although the travel on the pedals is small, they are surprisingly stiff.

Another programmer's experience:

Anybody with hand pain must get foot pedals, since they can remove a tremendous load from your hands. I have two foot pedals, and use one for the SHIFT key, and the other for the CONTROL key. (I still type META by hand.) I have found that in the process of using the Emacs text editor to compose computer programs, I tend to use the SHIFT, CONTROL and META keys constantly, and it is easy to remove most of this load from one's hands.

Some foot switch products:

Savant Elite Triple Foot Switch

FragPedal

Bilbo Step On It!