hmm... 'Tuna Knobs' controller knobs for iPad

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BKK-OZ
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hmm... 'Tuna Knobs' controller knobs for iPad

Post by BKK-OZ »

I can't decide whether it is tres' cool, or very silly:

Tuna Knobs -- spawned out of a small Dutch design company, Tweetonig -- are small dials that attach to any capacitive surface and act as a radial stylus.

http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/201 ... tuna-knobs
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BK

…string theory says that all subatomic particles of the universe are nothing but musical notes. A, B-flat, C-sharp, correspond to electrons, neutrinos, quarks, and what have you. Therefore, physics is nothing but the laws of harmony of these strings. Chemistry is nothing but the melodies we can play on these strings. The universe is a symphony of strings and the mind of God… it is cosmic music resonating through 11 dimensional hyperspace.
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Re: hmm... 'Tuna Knobs' controller knobs for iPad

Post by philbrown »

I could see that being very useful... until you change apps.
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Re: hmm... 'Tuna Knobs' controller knobs for iPad

Post by Shooshie »

Expand the product to all kinds of imagined things. If they can pull this off, they've just opened the floodgates for bridging the void between the digital world and the brick-and-mortar world. For example, imagine large touch screens, possibly even large holographic displays, where any kind of interface can be designed digitally, but accessing them is imprecise and tiresome because of what I might describe as the Theremin principle. Theremins are cool at first, but soon your ear tires of hearing what is essentially a slide-whistle. It's impossible to get from one note to another without a portamento, however small. And sustaining a note on a theremin requires the hand to stay in absolutely the same place.

Add some hardware that accurately nails the points of contact, so that you are manipulating the hardware rather than the touch screen, and you've brought ANY kind of interface into the 3-D world with 100% consistent and accurate reference points. It doesn't take much imagination to see that this could be absolutely HUGE. A pocket full of such devices could transform any touch-digital display into a piece of 3-D hardware. Knobs, buttons, faders, switches, dials... anything is possible. It's not limited to one device, nor one piece of software, nor one display. The conductivity is such that it could be used on any touch device. All you have to do is program some controls that could benefit from "extrusion" into your hands. Similar principles could be used to design hardware that could work with holographic displays.

By designing them to fit precisely over the display controls, and by using light for the notches, numbers, etc., instead of imprinting those things on the knobs, you could achieve the illusion of automated faders and knobs. As the digital knob turns, or the digital fader moves, its lit markings are transmitted through the clear-plastic rings around the knobs, appearing to move the knob itself.

So many possibilities here. This could be for control surfaces what laserwriters were for the printing industry and desktop printing. Rather than Mackie or some other company spending hundreds of thousands on R&D for a new board with dozens of pots, electronic sliders, and switches, one just designs it digitally and provides a box of knobs and faders to stick on to the touch-screen. Even if it came fully assembled with a dedicated touch screen, it would still be cheaper than manufacturing a 3-D board with all its wired parts and knobs.

This is cool and one of the most exciting new technologies I've seen since the development of the iPad.

Shooshie
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Re: hmm... 'Tuna Knobs' controller knobs for iPad

Post by BKK-OZ »

Well, I guess that is two votes for 'cool' and none for silly.

Shooshie, the way in which you describe the possibilities does indeed sound exciting. I am not sure that the developer's vision is the same as yours though - hopefully they will go in the direction that you describe.

I guess I see some potential for silliness from the perspective of taking your elegant, slim iPad and then re-analoging it. Kinda like the difference between a Slate:
Image

and this:Image
Cheers,
BK

…string theory says that all subatomic particles of the universe are nothing but musical notes. A, B-flat, C-sharp, correspond to electrons, neutrinos, quarks, and what have you. Therefore, physics is nothing but the laws of harmony of these strings. Chemistry is nothing but the melodies we can play on these strings. The universe is a symphony of strings and the mind of God… it is cosmic music resonating through 11 dimensional hyperspace.
- M Kaku
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Re: hmm... 'Tuna Knobs' controller knobs for iPad

Post by stubbsonic »

It is an out-of-the-box-thinking kind of solution. Addresses a kind of quirky & specific, yet common enough need. The suction-cup is a fairly painless way to address the need to get to a specific screen before popping them on.

Ultimately, having an external hardware control box and linking controls via a mod matrix is the best solution, but this is a cool alternative to an outside box.
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Re: hmm... 'Tuna Knobs' controller knobs for iPad

Post by Shooshie »

One of the biggest problems with touch screens is that you have to watch your fingers constantly when moving controls. You can start moving a fader, accidentally drag a little diagonally, then release and touch it again... but now you're on the next fader. Same with knobs. And with knobs, you have to know whether the knob is essentially a rotary fader or if it is a spinning pot. With the former, you move your finger up and down to rotate the knob, while the latter requires you to follow its circular path.

These doodads allow you to take your eyes off the controls and not lose them. It's re-analoging them, but in a new way where you can place the knobs wherever you want, reusing the same knobs for each screen. That big Slate Raven board looks cool, but it's kind of a nightmare to hit those faders every time without missing. There are some soft plastic pads they make for heel pads or toe pads in shoes. I've seen them for other purposes, too, but don't remember all of them. That plastic stuff basically sticks to anything you apply it to, then lifts right off when you're done. You could probably throw those on top of touch-screen faders, and with no moving parts you might then have a raised surface that transmits your touch to the screen. Because it doesn't move, your fingers don't lose the fader, and you don't have to watch. They can be shaped in a raised crescent or semi-circlular cross section, making a tall (⅛") strip, and you could work 5 or 6 of them at once without losing track of where your fingers are.

Oh well... ideas come easy for me, but I'm not one to patent it and build it. I just hope those guys do some things like that.

Shooshie
|l| OS X 10.12.6 |l| DP 10.0 |l| 2.4 GHz 12-Core MacPro Mid-2012 |l| 40GB RAM |l| Mach5.3 |l| Waves 9.x |l| Altiverb |l| Ivory 2 New York Steinway |l| Wallander WIVI 2.30 Winds, Brass, Saxes |l| Garritan Aria |l| VSL 5.3.1 and VSL Pro 2.3.1 |l| Yamaha WX-5 MIDI Wind Controller |l| Roland FC-300 |l|
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Re: hmm... 'Tuna Knobs' controller knobs for iPad

Post by James Steele »

I like it. Bring on Tuna Faders. :)
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Re: hmm... 'Tuna Knobs' controller knobs for iPad

Post by MIDI Life Crisis »

I'm in for "cool" and the only down side is it could lift any protective screen one may have attached. Then again, I removed the screen off my iPhone 5 early on without any adverse results.
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