Is there an off the shelf MicroPython board that can be used to make something like this using wired switches in a Dactyl / Manuform style keyboard. I see a lot of bespoke keyboard boards using socket style microcontrollers as well.
It's a bit expensive at $30 but seems a lot better than the Pro Micros normally used with QMK, and the shop has other form factors which are cheaper. With WiFi on the chip too this could potentially push forward the frontier of cool keyboards.
I wonder how hard it would be to make a split keyboard with these. Probably you could do I2C over a TRRS cable.