Demo of reacTable

source: http://www.iua.upf.es/mtg/reacTable/

What is it? What does it do?

As you can see in the video above, the reacTable was first developed as a concept and then brought to life with a software interface first, and then hardware to be a participative and experimental electronic music instrument. The team decided the best way to make such an instrument would be to use graspable objects that can be manipulated on a surface in an intuitive fashion to alter and project sound samples.

It draws on the form of Electronica music, which has become popular over the last ten years – pushed into mainstream music culture by popular artists Bjork and Madonna. A live performance of Electronica music would usually require a number of computers, synthesisers and software all to be combined in a fashion that would be confusing for those who have never used that set up before.

The use of basic objects being moved around the table to create the sound should be more inviting (than an instrument such as a Violin or Piano) to someone who is not musically inclined. The reacTable can be used by multiple people, and has been used by novices as installations, and also by advanced electronic artists, notably for recent performances by Bjork.

The reacTable has been designed so it can be used collaboratively and remotely. In a previous situation two reacTables have been joined via an internet connection; one in Austria, another in Spain. The number of connected tables can easily be extended and conceptually, the two remote tables are “virtually melted into a single table surface, where players at both locations are playing within the same logical table space”. (Kaltenbrunner, M. et al, 2006)

Who made it? Design philosophies?

The reacTable is being developed by the “Interactive Sonic Systems” team under the direction of Dr. Sergi Jorda in the Music Technology Group within the Audiovisual Institute at the Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona Spain.

A bit of history

Before the Reac-table Sergi was working on a project called the FMOL virtual instrument: an internet based music composition system. The goal of FMOL like the Reac-table was to design and build a collaborative instrument that can appeal to professional musicians as well as to complete novices. (Jorda, S, 2003)

The main downfall of the FMOL project was the limitation that came from the mouse and keyboard. Although the mouse and keyboard made FMOL accessible to all computer users it brought limits to what could be efficiently achieved in real time. (Jorda, S, 2003)

The solution was to ‘change the painted bits of GUI’s to tangible bits, taking advantage of the richness of multi-model human senses and skills developed through our lifetime of interaction with the physical world’. (Jorda, S, 2003)

The design philosophies

“The Reac-table started with a concept and not a technology”

The reactable intends to be:

• collaborative: several performers (locally or remotely)
• intuitive: zero manual, zero instructions
• sonically challenging and interesting
• learnable and masterable (even for children)
• suitable for novices (installations) and advanced electronic musicians (concerts)

(Reactable, 2007)

Why a table: Tables are places where various people can meet and discuss and where people together can develop their ideas and work on join projects…. Physical objects on a table surface especially on a round table set up are equally accessible for direct manipulation for any participant at the same time. (Kaltenbrunner et al., 2006)

Avoid user’s Frustration at any cost: It doesn’t necessarily need to be completely understandable but it has to be coherent and responsible. (Jorda, S, 2003)

Visual feedback: FMOL utilised Visual feedback to broaden the communication channel between the instrument and player. This became a unique feature of FMOL that carried over to the Reac-table

How does it work?

The reactable hardware is based on a translucent, round multi-touch surface. A camera situated beneath the table, continuously analyzes the surface, tracking the player’s finger tips and the nature, position and orientation of physical objects that are distributed on its surface. 

These objects represent the components of a classic modular synthesizer, the players interact by moving these objects, changing their distance, orientation and the relation to each other. These actions directly control the topological structure and parameters of the sound synthesizer. 

A projector, also from underneath the table, draws dynamic animations on its surface, providing a visual feedback of the state, the activity and the main characteristics of the sounds produced by the audio synthesizer. 

For more a more detailed rundown of how the Reactable works, checkout this pdf: http://mtg.upf.es/reactable/pdfs/reactivision_3rditeration2005.pdf

Why do we like it?

We like reacTable because it appeals to our creative, playful and social side all at once. At a glance it’s a futuristic musical instrument that makes us ponder and evolve our perception of what exactly an instrument can be in this day and age. Compared to the performances of Electronica music these days that require a ridiculous set up of multiple computers, synthesisers and other devices like in the picture below, reacTable pulls all of this into one device that looks like it’s extremely easy to use.

reacTable also uses physical objects as an indirect way to interact with it rather than simply touching the screen – this to us seems to add an element of play to the table. The blocks used for the interaction seem similar to toy blocks and because of the simplicity of the shapes used (cubes etc) interaction is not only very graspable but also seems very easy and intuitive – music making with it looks like a lot of fun. The large size of the table combined with the toy-like blocks also seem to encourage social play. One drawback however is that the blocks have symbols which might seem incomprehensible to some people.

What we really like about reacTable is that it combines music making with an intuitive tangible interface that makes Electronica music easy for anyone to play and improvise with. Also we know that this device can be used for big things as Bjork has actually borrowed one of only two reacTables ever made for use on her tour around the world. (http://www.iua.upf.es/mtg/reacTable/, 2007)

References

Jorda, S (2003) Interactive Music Systems for Everyone: Exploring visual feedback as a way for creating more intuitive, efficient and learnable instruments. Barcelona: Music Technology Group

Kaltenbrunner, M. Jorda, S. Geiger, G. Alonso, M. (2006) The Reactable*: A Collaborative Music Instrument. Barcelona: Music Technology Group

Reactable (2007) Retrieved: August 19, 2007, from: http://www.iua.upf.es/mtg/reacTable/?publications