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In terms of getting new stuff out there, what braincell says is very true. Hardware usually outpaces software because when electric engineer students make things, it's usually embedded and much easy to convert to production compared to a software that runs on a pc/mac.

But anyway, I think I should clarify that my sourness is directed at rotten parts of the system. I think it's very important to experiment and try new things. Even if it's reinventing the wheel. One idea implemented by 40 different projects at different time period still pushes us forward. It's just that there are so many projects that exist because a paper is easy to write (tons of prior research), or because it's a "hot" item at the conferences. All that stuff seems a little distant from academics. So, sorry for sounding like I'm bashing on this project in particular. I do wish them good luck and hopefully end up with a product that makes multitouch accessible for more people.

huh, could you define "stuff" then?

Just to use the example where they used mallets to play; there is no velocity! It would be a poor substitute for my 30 year old Drumkat. Control over velocity is one of the most fundamental, basic and important features of any electronic instrument. They are not thinking like musicians.

siriusbliss wrote:

stardust wrote:a yes the laser

frikin' 'lasers' - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bh7bYNAHXxw

Greg

p.s. lasers cause too much latency. Infrared is better.
IMO - this particular development is a little overkill technology-wise - even though it's cool (I guess).

laser is light. nothing is faster than light.
thats why they use it for fiber optics communications and other super fast things.

huh, could you define "stuff" then?

"stuff" as in new instruments / control surfaces, basically any product that roots from a student project. There are many successful ones, but many of them are already embedded and fairly production ready, as opposed to software solutions that needed a pc/osx to function.

Neutron wrote:laser is light. nothing is faster than light.
thats why they use it for fiber optics communications and other super fast things.

Seems to me that what makes fiber optics superior in communications is its ability to reject noise & multiplex many different streams of data into a single light signal. The use in electronic mediums is also subject to the methods of converting the light signal back to something usable in the electrical realm (which is why we don't have fiber optic interconnects on our computer's motherboard yet). Methods of converting a laser into a usable musical signal might be subject to some latency based on the implementation, but I'm not sure what tool(s) siriusbliss was thinking of in his response.

valis wrote:

Neutron wrote:laser is light. nothing is faster than light.
thats why they use it for fiber optics communications and other super fast things.

Seems to me that what makes fiber optics superior in communications is its ability to reject noise & multiplex many different streams of data into a single light signal. The use in electronic mediums is also subject to the methods of converting the light signal back to something usable in the electrical realm (which is why we don't have fiber optic interconnects on our computer's motherboard yet). Methods of converting a laser into a usable musical signal might be subject to some latency based on the implementation, but I'm not sure what tool(s) siriusbliss was thinking of in his response.

I think it is because the "control surfaces" that use lasers, tend to be camera based and a camera is much slower than a discreet light detecting diode or transistor (which works perfectly fast enough for audio) and cameras only scan at 30, 60 or 120 frames per second, then software has to convert camera lines to something it can use, calculate where the points are, convert it in to usable signals, and so on. so it will not only be laggy. but the lag will be inconsistent.

kensuguro wrote:

huh, could you define "stuff" then?

"stuff" as in new instruments / control surfaces, basically any product that roots from a student project. There are many successful ones, but many of them are already embedded and fairly production ready, as opposed to software solutions that needed a pc/osx to function.

any hardware designed to automate "stuff" -in this case a midi instrument- comes out with a set of instructions, be it burnt into a chip or loaded up in ram from a repository. Then there is this handsome invention called a computer, which gives the possibility to host a miriad of software. I find it quite meaningless to write something like

braincell wrote:hardware has by far outpaced software in the commercial market

of course bricks don't need a set of instructions to work (although that'll probably become a false statement in 1000 years), but then what is it we are talking about, hence my question

Why don't they make something useful? I need a keyboard which knows which hand is playing what so when I go to print piano music, the notes are on the right staff. I cross my hands over all the time.

yes, a program to replace a man's brain and make him superfluous...

Neutron wrote: I think it is because the "control surfaces" that use lasers, tend to be camera based and a camera is much slower than a discreet light detecting diode or transistor (which works perfectly fast enough for audio) and cameras only scan at 30, 60 or 120 frames per second, then software has to convert camera lines to something it can use, calculate where the points are, convert it in to usable signals, and so on. so it will not only be laggy. but the lag will be inconsistent.

That would indeed make sense.

Infrared devices I would guess are just detecting if any of their emitted light is returned, and since there's typically 2 'eyes' you have some axis of control defined between left/right and then another by the brightness/luminosity of what's detected? Having no clue about this one either personally that's about all I can surmise...

Let's just say that software could do a lot more than it does on current hardware.