I am currently working on an app for iOS-devices that spits out data from any sensor available via Apples API. This is nothing new since we already has TouchOSC and many others, but I am doing it for a couple of reasons:

• GDIF – All sensor devices of the same species are created equal, or not. With a common namespace for similar observations (sensor data about the world) we wouldn’t have to care so much about hardware variations and I think GDIF can come to the rescue.
• Analysis – Some analysis is already available via Apple’s API, but there is more to analysis than pinch and rotate. To get control over these things it makes sense to make an app that can serve as a framework for testing of new ideas.
• Communication – I’ll come back to the whys on this in an official article
• Visuals – We need control over the screen. This is not a button/slider app.

So this is for sure a brief post about something that deserve something a lot longer, but first things first! There is more in the pipeline.

cheers
Arve

“The CBA researchers’ device can do the work of at least six different micromechanical sensors. It can measure linear motion in three dimensions, which would ordinarily require three accelerometers. But it can also gauge its orientation — whether it’s tipped sideways or forward, or it’s been rotated — which would usually require an additional three gyroscopes.” (source: MIT)

Contact mics are designed to pick up sound transmitted through hard materials: A contact mic glued to a table will pick up sounds that are made when things hit the table, but not what those around the table talk about.

Glue it on your floor, and make your computer aware of feet, toys, parts hitting your floor. By using a grid of contact mics you can even get a rough approximation on the position of things that are moving around!

Contact mic on my MacBook touch plate

Cheers
Arve.

This is a setup that is sufficient for small gigs in clubs and such. The 402 speakers are rated at 500+100 watts, the Sub15 is rated 800 watts.

Point is: I sell this stuff, and want you to know about it. If you need speakers, microphones, cables or anything related to this, please contact. I have tested a lot of this for years, and I am confident that the products I sell is high quality, reliable and reasonably priced.

So why buy from Avols? Because Avols is about custom software and hardware. This means that you can buy speakers (and related stuff) and get software and/or hardware made for you and your needs.

You can save a lot of money if we set up a complete system running advanced, good sounding custom software creations for audio processing.

Please contact if you want more info. I will post more about projects that Avols has done in the past to illustrate how we do things.

cheers
Arve

I have seen the Lemur (Jazzmutant multitouch screen) up close and personal, and I think it is bulky. It definitely has a bulky price tag, I don’t need a big screen with multitouch, I want several small ones, and there comes the elegance of the iPod Touch. It is super thin, super light and super affordable, and the battery last more than long enough for a soundcheck and a concert.

If you have an iPod touch or an iPhone, then buy one of the OSC-apps in the appstore. I have downloaded two, and a third one is on its way. The first one I tested was the TouchOSC, and it made me happy. However I am excited about the text definable interface in MRMR, and will definitely spend some time exploring it.

This is my first post about this, but it will not be the last. Keep an eye on this, and I think we will have something beautiful for your hands and ears.

cheers
Arve

Multitouch Prototype 2 from Randy Jones on Vimeo.

My Avols interface (I will post more on this later) will still be my first choice, but the Phigdets might turn out as a very good alternative in many cases where high quality AD, DA or Ethernet is not required.

If you want to phidget then make sure you get the right crimps and housings for your cable (see phidget manual for part numbers). And I almost forgot: That insanely priced crimp-tool is required as well (See the company that make the crimps (Molex in this case) for tools). In Norway these things cost around 400$. Please correct me if I’m wrong!

Yesterday I thought to myself: This is a great day for some optical SPDIF. Clas Ohlson had the toslink to jack cables, my Macbook has its optical in- and outputs and the Multiface has SPDIF on coax but also (selectable) on its ADAT-in and out. Perfect. The internal routing on the Multiface is a beauty. From my Ecstacy to the Multiface and then out on SPDIF (optical) to the Macbook and back again.

As if this wasn’t enough, the Multiface is still connected to my Windows horse running the great Samplitude. Two computers – one audio card. Sounds good to me. Now I have my guitar software running on the Macbook and Samplitude on the Windozer and the Multiface handles both of them.

As if this wasn’t enough the Multiface can be disconnected from the PC-Card and ramble on in standalone mode. No need for a cardbus to use its ins and outs, just for setting them up each time the Multiface has been unpowered. Tedious.

EDIT: I was a bit to happy about this the other day when I thought that the Multiface remembered its settings…. No internal memory. It would have been a very nice feature if it could rememeber it self. And I mean, come on, home much memory would you need for something like that? It’s probably just a register setting anyway.

Cheers

I played around with a similar thing from freescale two years ago, and it is very nice to handle a sensor that knows if it is free falling or not. I like it.