Con.tact is the result of a design project during my Master’s at Industrial Design TU/e (Sep 2011 – Jan 2012)
The tactile modality is key for mastering and playing music instruments. But physical contact is one of the biggest taboos in western society. Con.tact is a reaction to this.
Con.tact is a playful improvisation tool that can be played through human touch. The player can alter and loop pre-recorded samples, creating unique sound scapes. The soundscape can only be activated by touching others. This human-human interaction, mediated by con.tact, creates a temporary alternative reality where touching strangers is fun. When two controllers of Con.tact meet, the sound samples of both intertwine which gives surprising effects.
Con.tact uses capacitive sensing to detect the capacitance of the touched object by the performer. This technique allows the instrument to guess how many people are touching the controllers or the person holding the controllers. However, the performer can include other objects in this loop, allowing for free improvisation (for example, touching the pipes in a building would give a soundscape based on the size and structure of all connected pipes and appliances).
The sensors and actuators in the Con.tact controllers are controlled with an Arduino board. The sensor data is sent to a server PC running a live Pure Data patch. This sketch processes the data and creates a soundscape.
