The Digital Worlds blog, an Open University blog, has an excellent look back at the artistry of early video tubes entitled “Oscilloscopy.”

There’s John Whitney’s “showreel” from 1961, which shows off the ground-breaking (1961, folks!) possibilities of his “mechanical analog computer,” as appropriated from an antiaircraft gun director. Wait … say that again? Yep, Whitney actually used a mechanical contrivance to rotate layers of graphics. When that technique met up with the power of  It’s an idea that’s just waiting for today’s DIYers to tackle, perhaps mixing modern digital techniques with mechanical ones.

Next, also from the above blog post, witness the gorgeous oscilloscope graphics and mechanical control pads of Tennis for Two, an early (thought to be the second-ever, though you never know with these things) video game made by William Higinbotham at the Brookhaven National Laboratory. Again, DIY project? Mechanical controllers, but this time coupled with 3D graphics? It is the 50th anniversary year of the title. (People under 35, remember that the next time your parents start talking about “back in their day” before video games. Tell them it’s not your fault they never dropped by the Brookhaven National Laboratory.)

Heck, I wish even oscilloscopes looked that pretty now.

There’s something really inspiring and elemental about these works — amplified by mechanical elements used in their creation and control. It’s something I think is possible in code; maybe it’s just challenging in a different way. (And maybe when you have that feeling of magic, you know you’re in the right place.)

This certainly gives me a different source of inspiration as I work with generative techniques in Java/Processing and the like. If this inspires any of your work, send us photos / video links — we’d love to see it! And motion graphics history buffs, happy to know more about these — and other — pioneers.

Cheer, indeed. We know how badly many of you want to get out from behind your laptop and out into a venue once in a while. Here’s a solution: wear your display. And it helps if that display has the insane interactive capabilities that this one does. Marco Tempest of newmagic.com writes CDMo:

A little X-Mas greeting for all of you! Showing of my Photonic T-Shirt. Wearable visuals. Haha…

I’m still working out whether that “haha” is an evil scientist “I’ll take over the world with this” laugh, a laugh at the rest of us that don’t have one of these t-shirts, or a jolly laugh of holiday delight. I’m betting some combination of the three. (Or, as suggested in comments, simply “hahaha, this isn’t actually real.” I take it then as inspiration to make something that does this but actually, you know, works, without needing sly magicians and fakery. I’ll leave it to you to determine what’s going on.) Just watch:

Kotaku points us to a very odd an interesting looking prototype gaming console. The gist of the system is that it captures real-time data from sensors, such as GPS, a camera system, etc., to mold reality into an immersive gaming environment.

Kotaku puts it rather well :

I don’t come from the future, where everyday people carry s*** like this around in their back pocket. Sadly the device is very much in the prototype stage, and may not even be put into production … at least not until the year 2019, when people’s minds will be ready for it.

However, it did get me thinking of interesting uses for it and similar systems that integrate lots of sensor data with desktop processing power. It seems it would suit itself far more to immersive interactive improvisation, which lines up quite well for what many VJs try to do. Either way, I’d rather use something like this in a club or a concert hall than playing a first person shooter running around the streets of New York. Those 2019 cabs still hurt. I’ll admit this is rather far off, and that I am stretching, but I can imagine doing some really fun and creative things with a device like this.

Via Kotaku : Hewlett-Packard Unveil New Prototype, Vid For Gaming Handheld

Ed.: Far off? I don’t think so. Strap an Arduino or other sensor-to-digital interface to a Nokia N800, and you’re there! (GPS + camera + sensors.) For visualists, too, we have an added edge: you can take a simpler mobile machine as the interface device, wirelessly connected to a computer as a base station for the heavy lifting. Result: a very affordable device ought to work. -PK

There you are: the party is amazing. Beautiful people everywhere, dancing as though it’s their last night on Earth. Bodies in sweaty, packed mo– [screeching record sound] — erm, okay, actually, you’re stuck behind a computer / VJ gear. Again. We’ve seen attempts to solve this problem before; only Tuesday night, in fact, I saw a DJ/PA set where the musician was wandering the floor with a wireless Xbox 360 controller and headset, manipulating Pd remotely. But here’s one novel solution: pack all your computer VJ tools into a wireless, battery-powered wrist brace:

Belmer Negrillo - On the Body [Project page, videos, technical details]

The basic controls: “pin buttons”, which actually use RFID tags for different commands, plus an accelerometer for controlling visuals with actual motion. Interestingly, the Wrist-Brace controller is designed to be adapted both to the discriminating VJ and the live clubber, so you can simplify the interactions for friends you make out on the dance floor. The project was produced for a class focusing on wearable interfaces called “On the Body” at Italy’s famed Ivrea Interaction Design Institute.

The interface looks great, though it makes me want to build controls into an oven mitt. (Sorry, couldn’t help but make the comparison.)

The title for the product is great: GoDance!

One technical problem not solved by this product: VJs with no rhythm / no coordination. You’ll have to sort out what to do on the dance floor on your own.

Got a preferred solution of your own / seen something similar? Or do you prefer to hide behind banks of hardware, safe from the dangers of the dance floor (maybe that’s why you went into this in the first place)? Let us know.

Electronics and physical computing is great fun to learn as you get tangible results from your progress. It’s simple and fun to grab a kit or a bunch of components and follow on with a blog or instructable. However, as you progress to designing your own projects and circuits (or to make following other people’s ideas easier) you’ll need some theory to explain what all the different components do and how to put them together successfully.

Fundamentals of Electrical Engineering and Electronics is an ebook primer available online or downloadable as an HTML help (.chm) file. The formatting is a little weak (inter-page navigation links would be appreciated), but the content is clear and concise (including an excellent analogy for Ohm’s law). The book is split into sections: DC, AC, Semiconductors, Digital, Reference, and Experiments.

I spent some thoroughly engaging hours on recent flights reading this, which I’m going to take to mean “FEEE contains interesting material presented well,” rather than “Jaymis is a big nerd.”

Since receiving my Arduino I’ve found myself looking at technology a little differently. As your post-production skills increase you tend to watch videos thinking: “I could do that”, or “I could do that if someone gave me lots of money and got out of my way”. In my post-Arduino life I now look at technology and think either, “I wonder how I could interface my arduino with that,” or “I wonder if anyone will mind if I pull that apart.”

Nobody will mind if you pull an old Inkjet printer apart. Every house has at least one in a cupboard somewhere, kept because it cost good money back in the day, but now replaced by all in one devices which cost less than their own replacement ink cartridges. My household had 6 mothballed inkjets. Now there’s only 5, and my parts box is filled with cool bits and pieces.

I received my Arduino today, and in preparation I’ve been saving up some Arduino/Wiring/Processing links of interest to a newbie physical-computerer.

If you haven’t Arduino’d before, here’s Todbot on why it’s a rocking little microcontroller. Tod also tells us how to make an Arduino Breadboard Shield, for quick circuit prototyping.

You should probably familiarise yourself with the Arduino Board, then have a look at ARDUINO meets PROCESSING - physical computing and computer graphics site: Projects containing the basic physical interactions mediated by an Arduino board.

The Arduino meets Processing project intends to make it as easy as possible for anyone to explore the world of physical computing. All you need is an Arduino board as well as the Arduino and Processing software, which you can download on their project websites.

Some of the pages seem a little incomplete, but it contains basic circuit information and code for: Pushbutton, Switch(es), Tilt Sensor, Accelerometer, Potentiometer, LDR Light Sensor, NTC Temperature Sensor, Joystick, Ultrasonic Sensor, Piezo Element.

Of course the Arduino Tutorials page has loads of examples. Of major interest to VJs may be:
Blinking LED.
Dimming 2 LEDs (RGB colour mixing).
LED Driver makes use of an LED Driver in order to control an almost endless amount of LEDs with only 4 pins.

Both Peter and I have Arduinos now, so you can expect things to be getting a little more physical in the future. Don’t be scared, we’ll be gentle.

As great as the potential of advanced touchscreens may be, for music and other media applications, touchscreens aren’t much fun to touch. Close your eyes and remove visual feedback, and you’re basically running your finger along a piece of plastic. (You’d think we could figure out a way to at least texture it without losing tracking.) Compare that to piano or drums: musical instruments can be played satisfyingly with your eyes closed. Yeah, you can do that to look “deep,” but the point is, you’re relying on tactile, not visual feedback.

Here’s a promising solution: the Hyperfabric project (via the fascinating ramblings at SteamSHIFT). This stuff is strong (it can support body weight), and lets you actually touch, squeeze, grab, and otherwise manipulate a large-scale fabric surface to control computer-generated imagery. It’s certainly workable as a musical instrument, if you want to be able to, in their words, “press your face into the hyperfabric to release fairies.”

I have no idea how this thing works, though I’m guessing some kind of correlation of pressure with video sensing. It’s commercially available, or you can just ponder what giant spiderweb-like surfaces might someday do for music.

Régine of Near Near Future has some more interactive strings, along the lines of last week’s laser harp:

Interactive strings

(Cellists out there are probably wondering why the idea of “interactive strings” is new. Well, clearly you don’t und. . . um . . . okay, you’ve got me.)

Anyway, this stuff is big business. Artist David Small got a gig here in NYC with cosmetics giant L’oreal; his poetry harp triggers billowing poetry.

As for the op_era, I’m at a loss. First, it claims to be four-dimensional. (Okay, it exists in time I suppose — so does a Calder mobile.) Let’s let them explain that: “If the interactor proceeds through dimensions 1D to 2D, the prior dimension is incremented to the next (2= 2+1), a rule that also correspond to the integration of the body.” Wait a minute, what?! Maybe the last line says it best: “In this dimension, space visualization and cognition is only possible through simulation.”

Yes, this gets at the real reason for designing this interaction: to make you get really, really dizzy. Think I’m exaggerating? Try the QuickTime videos. Help!! . . . I’m falling into a big spiral hole . . . aaaaaaaaaaa . . . .

Via Pixelsumo comes a fantastic lineup of links to futuristic interfaces for music, etc. If you were impressed by Cycling 74’s new Lemur touchscreen, with the power to let you touch multiple points on a pad simultaneously for controlling music/sound/etc., Jeff Han has built his own. His Frustrated Total Internal Reflection project may sound like some sort of existential experience, but it’s really an optical system for tracking multiple finger touches on a screen. You need a back projector, so it’s not as portable or compact as the Lemur, but watch the video: extremely low latency, extremely high sensitivity. Jeff has other tricks up his sleeve, too: using LEDs for touch control, and volumetric 3D displays using dust, among others. I’m heading to NYU later this week, so I’ll have to see if there’s something in the water. If you’re at Siggraph, go check these out and let us know more!