Last Friday we were joined by Studio resident Tom Mitchell, and Seb Madgwick founder of x-io Technologies. x-io Technologies is a Bristol-based company developing new hardware for creative technology.  

In 2011 x-io Technologies were approached by UWE lecturer Tom Mitchell, and singer/songwriter Imogen Heap to help develop the motion tracking hardware for a cutting-edge gestural music system. The result was 'The Gloves', an ongoing collaboration project which has now appeared in performances at TEDGlobal 2011/2012, Wired 2012, and headlined the AHRC Digital Transformations Moot 2012. Most recently Imogen appeared on Dara O Briain’s Science Club to demo the gloves and give a brief performance of a song she wrote using the gloves, Me The Machine. You can watch a clip from it on iplayer here.

Seb and Tom joined us in the Studio last Friday to introduce their new product x-OSC; a new wireless prototyping board, a bit like Raspberry Pi or Arduino. x-OSC has been designed to enable the rapid prototyping of interactive systems, taking information from different sensors such as proximity sensors, heat sensors or live data feeds and translating them into media such as sounds or lights. Seb showed us how it could make a Theremin in a matter of seconds.

What is OSC?

Tom explained that OSC stands for Open Sound Control. Open Sound Control (OSC) is a content format for communication between computers, sound synthesizers, and other multimedia devices that are optimized for modern networking technology. Bringing the benefits of modern networking technology to the world of electronic musical instruments. Tom and Seb are using OSC because it’s simple and readable, and it’s really widely supported, meaning you can use lots of different programming languages to configure the board including C++, Python, Java and even MATLAB to get the desired effect.  

What are the benefits of x-OSC?

•    It has 16 input and 16 output channels
•    Onboard WIFI – so it creates a new WiFi connection with your computer rather than competing for bandwidth
•    You don’t have to programme the board
•    No software to install

What can I do with it?

Tom and Seb originally created x-OSC to improve latency between networks in Imogen’s Gloves. They now want to put it in the hands of users and see what might be possible and what else might be useful in future designs. They will be holding a workshop in the Studio later this year to develop ideas. If you would like to take part contact them here.  

You can find out more about x-io Technologies on their website here: http://www.x-io.co.uk/