Keyboard Shortcuts to switch directly to applications

Question

Using Unity is there a way to create a single key shortcut to switch to an existing instance of an application? For instance, rather than hitting alt-tab N times to switch to my browser I could simply hit F1, for a terminal I could hit F2.

The run-one solution in another question doesn't work as it launches a new instance. The Launcher itself comes close as it allows me to use Super-[0-9] for pinned applications. This would be sufficient if I could remap the launcher shortcuts to be single keys.
Perhaps there is a dbus message that could be send from a script and the script could be tied to a custom shortcut? A simpler solution would be great too.

Answer 1

An ugly solution is to use xdotool to simulate the Super-[1-9] keypress. The xdotool command sequence can then be mapped to a custom keyboard shortcut from "System Settings" > Keyboard > Shortcuts". The commands to be run for the shortcuts are

Super-1

sh -c 'echo "keydown super sleep 0.2 key 1 super" | xdotool -'

Super-2

sh -c 'echo "keydown super sleep 0.2 key 2 super" | xdotool -'

Super-3

sh -c 'echo "keydown super sleep 0.2 key 3 super" | xdotool -'