[Pd] OT: this is the kind of interface I want

[Chuckk Hubbard]

I'm envisioning a musical instrument akin to a keyboard that retunes
itself.  Wendy Carlos made something like this, I think, but I want
something more versatile.  Monzo lattices, maybe, for selecting notes,
and then separate commands for transposing the whole system of notes
to different roots.
Monzo:
http://tonalsoft.com/enc/l/lattice.aspx

I'd also like to try an instrument that displays its frequencies
linearly instead of logarithmically.  I could do that without one of
these interfaces, but I'd like to try playing it with some kind of
multiple-touch screen.
A pedal or two might help with this as well.

-Chuckk


On 11/12/06, Hans-Christoph Steiner <hans at eds.org> wrote:
>
>
> Actually, the most difficult thing to do is make it work well in the real
> world.  Making it work isn't too difficult, there are lots of working
> variations, including the Pd-powered reacTable.  But video tracking is
> really limited.  You have to have completely steady lighting conditions
> (notice the lights were turned off in that demo).
>
> I used that exact table interface at NIME at IRCAM.  It is certainly nifty,
> but it needs work to work in the real world.  The problem with video
> tracking is that there is no way to to track your finger, instead it just
> tracks shadows.  What happens is if the video tracking looses track of your
> finger for one instant, then it thinks you picked up your finger and put it
> back on the table. That can definitely screw up your actions.  And
> unfortunately which ever video tracking system thing I have seen, that exact
> thing happens quite frequently.
>
> Then there are multitouch sensors, which probably more reliably track your
> finger, but they are quite slow, so they work fine for moving sliders and
> pressing buttons, but for drawing or musical control, they are quite
> limited.
>
> I think that using pressure sensors will probably be the better way, over
> video tracking, but don't hold your breath either way.  Plus, more
> importantly, I haven't seen any killer apps for this yet, that's key.  Sure,
> its nifty to wiggle images around and zoom and navigate, but that's a really
> simple app.  Try making photoshop with that, where the interface "just
> disappears"  I don't think humans could remember enough gestures to map all
> the functions in Photoshop, so a menu would probably be necessary.
>
> If you want to see a real killer demo, check  out the 1968 demo of Doug
> Engelbart's Augmentation Research Center.  That's a real demo.  They
> basically showed up when many people were still using punchcards, and
> interactive computing was just beginning to take hold.  They should a
> actual, functional system with hyperlinks, a basic GUI, the mouse, video
> conferencing, custom computer furniture, etc. when most people were excited
> to be using the terminal:
>
> http://sloan.stanford.edu/mousesite/1968Demo.html
>
> I guess I am just sick of the amount of hype these days.  All these "media
> labs" put so much energy into hype, instead of making better things.
>
> There, that's my rant.
>
> .hc
>
> On Nov 8, 2006, at 1:02 PM, Kyle Klipowicz wrote:
>
> I think that the most difficult (and useful) thing to do would be some sort
> of book keeping to track individual fingers.  Maybe some sort of gloves or
> fingertip sensors?  That would make things very flexible.
>
> It sounds neat that you're doing an implementation.  Please post any
> satisfying results to the list!
>
> ~Kyle
>
> On 11/8/06, Thomas Grill <gr at grrrr.org> wrote:
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Am 08.11.2006 um 05:46 schrieb Kyle Klipowicz:
> >
> > I KNEW this had to have something to do with Jeff Han.  Brilliant
> technology.  As I understand it, Apple Computer has gotten involved
> financially with this.  I'd love to see it implemented!
> >
> >
> >
> > Actually this is fairly easy to implement. There are a number of
> descriptions floating around in the net.
> > Basically you need a transparent acrylic panel, IR emitters, a beamer and
> a fast camera, minor drilling and assembling skills and a multi-blob video
> tracker.
> > I'm currently trying to build such a system.
> >
> >
> > greetings,
> > Thomas
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > Thomas Grill
> > http://grrrr.org
> >
> >
>
>
>
> --
>
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> http://perhapsidid.blogspot.com
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