Microsoft Research have added live, collaborative visuals to their bag of tricks for the Microsoft Surface multitouch table. Of course, in the process, they’re really demonstrating not only what you might to with Surface but with multitouch interfaces in general. In fact, it’s particularly odd that Microsoft hasn’t apparently made the connection with more generally-available multitouch hardware coming out, particularly with multitouch APIs built directly into Windows 7. HP is already shipping a mainstream laptop with a convertible, tablet-like form factor. And I don’t need to point out that this could lead to cross-platform, open source applications, not just those that run at Microsoft tech demos or on a unit installed in Vegas.

Via Ars Electronica:

VPlay: live video mixing meets Microsoft Surface (Subhead: “It’s like VJing on a Microsoft Surface!” Uh… actually, more than just like that, I’d say it is that.)

Thanks to Pedro Marques (VJ Danger) for the tip!

The ideas here, if in basic prototype form, are already interesting. The design is heavily influenced by (if not a direct copy of) the Reactable, down to the connectors between nodes.

http://mtg.upf.es/reactable/

Visuals arguably work even better, though, because they can be shown directly in a way sound cannot.

In this prototype, you can’t do much that you can’t already do with conventional visual software. But already, there are two significant, fundamental advantages. One is, having a nodal visual interface gives you really open-ended possibilities for setting up a set. Conventional software also relies on you to configure the modules you need in advance of performing. With this interface, you do it all live as you go – just as you can do with sound on the Reactable. Secondly, as the video points out, you can collaborate more easily, without fighting over knobs on your MIDI controller.

I couldn’t help but laugh at this particular frame from the video (which also, amusingly, heavily features Resolume v2):

Yeah? Speak for yourself. Us VJs are fighting the boys and girls off. We’re like fresh meat in a shark tank.

This solution is much better. Now people can get beer all over the inside of my multitouch controller. Give me the solitary existence any day.

lights on from thesystemis on Vimeo.

Digital visuals are often confined to a screen or a panel of wall. So there’s something magical about projects that get an entire building as a canvas. “Lights” is a live audiovisual performance for the Ars Electronica museum in Linz, Austria. The facade has some 1085 LED windows, controllable in real-time. The performance involved coordinating these windows with broadcast music.

The work was put together, stunningly, in just three days. OpenFrameworks, the artist-focused, C++-based code framework for “creative coding”, became a critical part of the process, assembling all of the real-time visuals. Zach Lieberman, co-developer of OF, also worked on the project and describes its ingredients and team:

this project was made as a collaboration between 4 different folks,
including daito manabe (musician & hacker), damian stewart (artist and
one of the creators of rjdj), joel gethin lewis (formerly with united
visual artists, where he worked on projects like massive attack’s LED
show) and myself (developer of openframeworks).
–> (daito) [daito.ws]
–> (joel) [http://www.joelgethinlewis.com/]
–> (damian) [http://frey.co.nz/]

we did alot of stuff with software that might be interesting for your readers — the tools involved (abelton, max, pd, openframeworks, dmx) and the challenges of a display like that, etc….

Breakdown of the tools:

• OpenSoundControl (OSC) for connecting audio and visual elements (and as Zach and I discussed privately in an email, it’s really the power of being able to relate different media, physical, aural, and visual, that defines the project more than any one tool)
• Max/MSP and Ableton Live for the audio score
• Pd (Pure Data), Max’s open-source cousin, for recording audio and OSC control signals

Zach notes “what I liked about it was how eye opening it was to feel that you can use each tool for what it’s good for.” 

I’m now headed to Newark Airport to fly to Portugal for the amazing OFFF conference. Don’t be jealous, though, if you can’t make it – expect plenty of coverage for both CDMs. (My talk Saturday will actually be more music-focused than visual, though as you know, the lines are always deliciously blurry between the two.)

http://offf.ws/

If you are making it and showing work, do be sure to find me during the week! I’ll be doing impromptu interviews in video/sound through the week in hallways and the hotel (most of us are staying in the same place).

Magic is itself a kind of augmented reality, a willing suspension of disbelief as we watch what we know is a blend between what we’re seeing and what we simply think we’re seeing. We know it’s not all physically happening, but the act of seeing it is enough. So it’s fitting that someone would try to blend magic and augmented reality. The challenge is flirting with a taboo of the digital age: getting people to accept that digital magic can still be magical, and not just empty illusion.

Marco Tempest is a rare character who combines magic and technology. He’s an unabashed showman in the old mold: you know it’s a show, and you know he’s selling what he’s doing. He also has some terrific ideas, and he knows his tech. Marco’s sends us his latest augmented reality, which he says is entirely real-time.

And here comes the reversal of the usual magic trick. In the pre-digital age, you’d keep the illusion alive by sharing as little as possible. Explain the tools, and the trick may be ruined. But in the post-modern, post-digital world of sharing and open source, it’s the reverse. You actually need to share something in order to have credibility. (My guess is that this could be the trend for far more than just magic – look at the musician and visualist worlds.)

Marco writes:

this is 100% real-time stuff - No post-processing. Programmed In C++ with OpenFrameworks, OpenCV, ARToolkitPlus, MacCam and other Open Source goodies…

Being the fan of software pr0n that I am, I thoroughly enjoy the screenshots, which show off the OpenFrameWorks setup [site | cdmo tag]. Incidentally, you can use OpenCV not only with C++, but Java/Processing, as well – check out our tutorial. And Bryan Chung has been working on a version of the ARToolkit library for Processing, too. That’s not to take away from OFW – it’s a really powerful environment, and there remain advantages on the C side.

Here’s what it looks like behind the magic:

 More screenshots

NAB, the “broadcasting” industry show, remains the event of the year for visual gear lust fantasies. We kicked off this week with new gear from Edirol, but that was just the beginning. Contributor Anton Marini (”vade”) weeds through the rest of the announcements for us, and finds some very tasty-looking equipment if you’re interested in getting HD video into your computer in real-time, or recording HD-resolution computer performances. The combination of this hardware with our faster-than-ever computers means that HD VJing and visualism is now more accessible than ever. -Ed.

NAB ‘09 is winding down, and there have been a slew of announcements of new products and upgrades that run the gamut of super high-end real-time 4K playback systems to.. well, not so high-end. I’ve tried to pick through the details and find the announcements that may help change the game for visualists in 2009/2010, for both high-end professional VJs and hobbyists alike.

The key word this year is HDMI.

AJA Ki-Pro

The Aja Ki-Pro is a field recorder. That’s a fancy way of saying it’s a stand-alone device that records audio and video to a hard drive. While Ki Pro is aimed more at higher-end production and post-production markets, it does allow visualists with the budget to do one thing we’ve all been wanting: Record your performances in HD, without compromise.