Today, wednesday 6th of June, was the first workshop we attended. Actually, it was more of a presentation of companies and (student) entrepeneurs who had the possibility to present their product developments in sensors and sensor interfacing solutions to the public, than a workshop.
The products they presented were a broad variety of possible sensors and sensor interfaces for installations, performances, VR environments etc. Some of them have a plug-and-play approach. Others need more programming and sometimes even soldering to make it work smoothly. It was very interesting to see all the possibilities of sensors and sensor interfacing in a four hour session. This made it more touchable/realistic than staring at a website and thinking “should a buy this or that one…”
Here is an overview of what was presented.
I-cubeX of Infusion Systems
The I-cubeX is a sensor-to-MIDI interface with three types of systems: the microsytem, the system and the Wi-microsystem, which is wireless. To all three of these systems a broad variety of sensors can be attached. A little programming is needed, but then you will be up and running with this plug-and-play approach.
Teabox of Electrotap
The teabox of Electrotap is similar to the I-cubeX, but uses digital audio instead of MIDI for connecting sensors to the computer. It’s also a plug-and-play approach, so a little bit of programming and then you’re set!
Make Controller Kit of Making Things
The Make Controller Kit is a fully programmable, open source hardware platform for projects requiring high performance control/feedback, connectivity, and ease of use. It can also be used as an interface to a variety of desktop environments like Max/MSP, Flash, and Processing, Java, Python, Ruby – anything that supports OSC. (from Making Things website)
This product needs programming/soldering/modifying before you can use it run as smooth as the “plug-and-play” products like the IcubeX or the Teabox. This can be a little bit of a problem if you’re not really into technical stuff. Another interesting feature of this tool is that it can be accessed over a network.
EOBody2 by EOWave
The French company EOWave has a similar product as the IcubeX called the EOBody2 and it’s a follow up from the EOBody, which is out of stock. The EObody is an USB-MIDI sensor system that can host up to 128 sensors and store sensor settings in its SensorBoxes. Also based on the plug-and-play approach.
CREATE USB Interface (CUI) by Dan Overholt
This is probably the cheapest($50) out of the five possible sensor interfaces we have seen today, but also the one with the most working hours needed for a successful project. It’s called CUI, short for Create USB Interface. Offering only a print-board with only the necessary elements: a USB port, a power LED, a reset switch, a programming switch and a prototyping area, were you solder your personal sensor wishes. This is all you need for making your own hardware sensor interface! (Note: Dan Overholt told us when you aren’t familiar yet with soldering and programming your own boards, start with the Arduino board first)
