Reactable review

December 1, 2009 in Promo, Reviews, 167 views

Is it some outer space device? Nooo…; Is it a new age table? Kind of… more exactly; it’s “Reactable”.

I was shown this video only a few days ago, enjoyed it and here’s a few things I found out about it:

It was developed in 2003 at a university in Barcelona by Sergi Jordà, Marcos Alonso, Martin Kaltenbrunner and Günter Geiger and has been declared Hot Instrument of the Year by Rolling Stone Magazine (2007). The device found appreciation among artists too, as for example it has been implemented by Bjork in her world tour Volta.

Let’s see how it works and what it actually is. The tabletop – Tangible User Interface – and tangibles – the blocks being placed on it, are the components which operate a virtual modular synthesizer. The table itself is the display. Underneath is a video camera, inputting video to a pc. There is also a projector under the table, connected to the pc, projecting video on the table, which can be seen from both sides. As a tangible is placed on the table, various animated symbols appear, which show what the particular tangible is doing. The tangibles have fiducials (printed black and white images, consisting of circles and dots in varying patterns) on their underside, which are seen trough the table by the camera. Most of the tangibles are flat, with one fiducial on the underside. Some other tangibles are cubes, with fiducials attached to several sides, allowing those tangibles to serve multiple functions. (before we go on, repeat the new words you’ve learned today )

Now that we’re trough with the rough technical part, I can only say that producing music with the Reactable seems pretty easy, compared to the mixers with loads of buttons we’re used to see DJs playing on…could it be another step towards the “Everybody wants to be a DJ Movement”? No matter what the answer is, my conclusion is: I like the flashy, the fresh and tough the simple about it and am looking forward to more of these music & good mood producing devices.

by Di

Tags: dj tools, djing, music, production, reactable, revolutionary