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PocoPoco musical interface box makes solenoids fun, gives Tenori-On pause (video)
Think SIGGRAPH's all about far-out design concepts? Think again. A crew from the Tokyo Metropolitan University IDEEA Lab was on hand here at the show's experimental wing showcasing a new "musical interface," one that's highly tactile and darn near impossible to walk away from. Upon first glance, it reminded us most of Yamaha's Tenori-On, but the "universal input / output box" is actually far deeper and somewhat more interactive in use. A grand total of 16 solenoids are loaded in, and every one of 'em are loaded up with sensors. Users can tap any button to create a downbeat (behind the scenes, a sequencer flips to "on"), which will rise in unison with the music until you tap it once more to settle it (and in turn, eliminate said beat). You can grab hold of a peg in order to sustain a given note until you let it loose. There's a few pitch / tone buttons that serve an extra purpose -- one that we're sure you can guess by their names. Those are capable of spinning left and right, with pitch shifting and speeds increasing / decreasing with your movements. The learning curve here is practically nonexistent, and while folks at the booth had no hard information regarding an on-sale date, they confirmed to us that hawking it is most certainly on the roadmap... somewhere. Head on past the break for your daily (video) dose of cacophony. %Gallery-130382%
Spazzi dancebot can't teach you how to Dougie, but it's got the robot on lock
It looks like somebody's got some competition. So, Spazzi's probably not going to dethrone the reigning King of Cute, but judging from what we've seen of its moves, it could give Keepon some competition on the dance floor. This little, solenoid-packing robot, featured in the latest issue of Make, is actually kin to our boy Keepon, and uses an Arduino (holla!) to control the solenoid's and springs that give it that special robot swag. If you've been pining after Keepon, and have some DIY skills, hop on past the source link for the full build, or just check out a video of Spazzi gettin' its groove on after the break.
Computer controlled Bayan from 1988 makes us want to go back to the past
Back in 1988, Russian engineer Vladimir Demin combined a bunch of solenoids (loops of copper wire) and a Bayan (a Russian accordian), to create a self-playable instrument controlled by his awesome, self-built computer. Yes, we're impressed, and you will be too, if you take a look at the video below.
