5/29/2007

An incredible multi-touch controller - ghetto style


If you've lusted over the Lemur, but you can't afford it, and you're not Bjork, so you can't get hold of a ReacTable, help is around the corner. This is an amazing video of the Multi Touch Console in action a some supergeek conference - it was also at the Superbooth at MusikMesse this year. It's an open source design, put together by designers/programmers in Berlin. It runs on a cheap PC, a bog standard projector, an OEM camera, some wood, some reinforced glass, some lights and a projector screen. The software is free. See it for real at the next Dorkbot London.
UPDATE: Always the first at the party, Microsoft have now annouced 'Surface', a clone of this product (and ReacTable). It will cost $5-10,000 and comes complete has the lamest sequence of product videos you'll ever see.

18 comments:

  1. actually this is a "reactable", made with the reacTIVision (an open source, cross-platform computer vision framework) i guess...
    check reactables homepage: http://mtg.upf.edu/reactable/

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  2. are you sure they use reactable?
    trheir website links to
    http://www.whitenoiseaudio.com/touchlib/

    they also provide a link to the wiki with the plans for their table

    http://macrone.de/multitouch/

    right, that's my year sorted then!

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  3. Anonymous5:35 am

    For Moog's sake, shut this MC up !!!

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  4. Anonymous9:06 am

    @dario/simulated person: no, its not using the reactivision software, its using libAVG for the tracking, the sequencer is called loopArena
    and is written in processing.

    @pixoshiru: check this ;)

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  5. Anonymous10:33 am

    If this is multi touch...than why is he only using one finger all the time?

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  6. Anonymous1:09 pm

    I can't see any relationship between the touch and the sound.

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  7. If you add up the costs involved in this, it's not really any cheaper than the lemur. I would hardly call it "ghetto."

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  8. "Can't get a hold of reactable unless you're Bjork"...

    The reactable people give you instructions on how to BUILD YOUR OWN right here: http://mtg.upf.edu/reactable/?software

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  9. It is multitouch. The lemur uses a multitouch touchscreen -- this uses a vdeo camera to track hand movements and a back-projection for the interface.

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  10. Anonymous12:56 am

    does anybody know where to actually download looparena? i can't find a link anywhere...

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  11. Anonymous3:08 am

    NO NO NO !!!!!!!!

    "IMPORTANT NOTE: reacTIVision is the computer vision sensor component of the reacTable project. The reacTable synthesizer and its visual feedback component are not available for public use, and there are no plans to publish this software at the moment! "

    there is NO GUI at all just the background code. so you have to be pretty hardcore to get it running. the looparena stuff is not public yet but will be very soon ( i hope ). i'm just going to keep checking for links

    MS is going to have to suck my balls $5,000-10,000 ???? – why are they building these as whole systems. i just want a controller i can lug around with me. think oversized briefcase / removable lid. as soon as someone releases a usable GUI i’m building it.

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  12. Anonymous6:00 pm

    this music is depressing and crappy... the controler is wasted on them

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  13. Anonymous7:25 pm

    reactables and the like are retarded. just saw the bjork show with one head shakin dude "rockin it like a dj" and projected on multiple screens - nothing that couldn't be done with a knobs and switches box. even the graphical feedback is luserville. needs pressure, percussion, and way better software to "take it to the next level" um, yo. :P

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  14. Anonymous7:29 pm

    1995 called and wants its MC back. soooo distracting. please make it stop!

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  15. Anonymous7:38 pm

    Wow, those microsoft ads are aweful. Kind of insulting. Like we don't know what it will really be like.

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  16. Here is a video demo of a guy who downloaded the Reactivision software and set it up to control Ableton Live:


    Reactivision controlling Live Demo Video

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  17. the music is depressing
    http://youtubemix.blogspot.com

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  18. Anonymous6:12 pm

    worst MC ever

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