With the rise in digital technology, we gain the ability to easily sculpt interesting sounds and analyze noise at a fundamental level. However, though many enjoy fiddling with instruments, digital sound programs are oftentimes intimidating or difficult to learn. Consequently, the Music Technology Group at the Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona, Spain developed a tangible tabletop musical interface called "The Reactable"
The Reactable allows the user to create noises using physical objects and visual connections. As a result, the study and creation of noise becomes an interactive experience analogous to musical legos. Even somewhat confusing audio signal concepts such as low frequency oscillators, sequencers, or filters become straightforward visual blocks that can be easily used to construct complex sound structures.
Comments (3)
Nice - reminds me of Toshio Iwai's table top work called "Composition on the Table" which eventually morphed into electroplankton.
Posted by Anonymous | September 16, 2008 8:40 PM
Posted on September 16, 2008 20:40
This post is a real gem. What a fun piece of technology. I can imagine this in some kind of interactive night club type setting. Personally, I'd like one just to annoy my neighbors. Its quite cool.
Posted by Michael Silverman | September 16, 2008 9:11 PM
Posted on September 16, 2008 21:11
I recently had a chance to experience the Reactable in person and I was extremely impressed. At first glance, yes, you might think it similar to Toshio Iwai's various musical toys. In some respects, it IS similar. You can walk up to the thing and immediately start having fun. Its got great visual and audio feedback for everything you do with it. The difference from this thing and Electroplankton is that it is EXTREMELY deep. After spending a little time with it, it was clear that the range of possibilities and sounds that can be created with this thing is vast.
So I think that is what left me most impressed by it... that it could be an easily accessible and playful toy, but also be a deep tool you might spend years learning all the intricacies of. That is an challenging divide to straddle as a designer. It'd be great if they could get it on the market for a reasonable price.
Posted by Aaron Meyers | September 17, 2008 2:07 PM
Posted on September 17, 2008 14:07