Interesting new DJ touch concept

[Afterhour Ali]

already posted my verdict in the other post...mind you need a 12.1" touchscreen with 1280x800 display resolution to run this.

?!?

[nem0nic]

The Emulator overlay for Traktor is interesting, but I don't find it anywhere near as interesting as this. This is a clever use of gestures to simplify an interface. The problem with Emulator (as stated above) is that it requires a ton of real estate to convey the amount of detail needed to be effective. This gesture based system simplifies the interface while remaining very clear about what it's doing. And all of the gestures are very natural for a touch interface (unlike twisting virtual knobs for instance).

[chrismp]

?!?

i'm talking about the program shown in your pic, emulator...the demo only runs on notebooks with the mentioned specs.
the thread i'm referring to is somewhere in the controllers and mods forum...

[PartyMcFly]

From a visual standpoint, this is by far the most beautiful software interface I've ever seen. It's so damn tasteful. Even with its comparatively limited features, it still looks very pleasurable to play on.

Agreed that some details are lacking in his project, but someone should give this man a lucrative job in order to flesh out his ideas.

I'd shit myself if the Serato visual interface could look like this. Which it very well could.

[ctrld]

beautiful to look at.

but that's about all it is. I've taken a look at most multi-touch solutions in existence, commercial products and prototypes alike and everybody is getting so worked up over the fact that you can now interact with GUIs by touching them (whoopdeefuckingdoo - I don't get it, we've had those for years) that they don't realize the (IMO!) most important negative aspect of those systems.

with most multi-touch surfaces today, when you look past the shiny you should realize you're giving away more control than you actually gain - you also lose speed and precision, two things you should really care about when DJing (except maybe when you're hawtining it out in autosync at 126 bpm). what's so awesome about that? trying to reproduce 3d controls on a 2d surface? really? no offense to the developers, it's certainly an excellent showcase of coding skills that I personally can't compete with (yet) - but 99% of them FAIL in the UI design department which is... well, essential. not to mention you probably won't want to bring large touch screens to a club and they won't have such systems installed on a large scale anytime soon.

I'm sorry, but all I see here is a colorful toy... pleasing to the eye, but still a toy that I can outperform without even breaking a sweat. it would make more sense for a VJ.

[Karlos Santos]

but that's about all it is.

I agree. Thats pretty much what i was eluding to.

My point is that it is beautiful. Its clever and it is beautiful... but like most of these things that come along (like the Token or the Reactable) its technology for technologies sake.

Its never gonna have much of a commercial use.

The point i was gonna make about the Emulator and Token is that the Emulator is only any use if you can get your hands on it. This means to get full use you need a big screen. Enter the Token screen.

Now this may seem like heresy to some but that video of the guys with the HUGE screen its stupid beyond belief.

Its just bloody Traktor on a massive television...!!!
Its looks ridiculous.
Its not practical.
You are completely detactched from the audience cus you behind a huge screen (no matter how transparent it is).
I would end up walking into it and breaking it.

The Emulator is clever software that means you can use a touch screen with Traktor... why bother. You doing the same thing that you would do with your hands on a controller but on a screen. Traktor isnt designed for this kind of use.

At least the Multi Touch Table works with hand gestures. That is what its designed for.

Whats next..? Projecting Traktor on the moon and shooting missiles at it...

[Afterhour Ali]

Its just bloody Traktor on a massive television...!!!
Its looks ridiculous.
Its not practical.

Yeah, but the damn program didn't work on the other devices I had available.
The video will be more about the concepts Emulator is using, but I guess I'll get a lot of hate for it.

[Karlos Santos]

No hate here bro, you know that.

Anyways did you post a video Hedge..?

[Afterhour Ali]

No hate here bro, you know that.

Anyways did you post a video Hedge..?

Soon on DJTT, but coverage from our Midi Fight Club first <3

[nem0nic]

with most multi-touch surfaces today, when you look past the shiny you should realize you're giving away more control than you actually gain...

With all due respect, I think you're seriously missing the point, and have no idea what product development is about. This argument you're making is as misinformed as someone who might complain that concept cars are impractical and not designed for the real world.

They're NOT SUPPOSED TO BE. THAT is the point.

There are elements of this design that are brilliant. The way gestures are used to eliminate the usually necessary on-screen elements for some controls is something I have no doubt will make it into other products. And unlike other projects I've seen, the gestures in this one are touch screen friendly and aren't awkward (like twisting a virtual knob). I thought the BPM based pitch adjustment was smart as well, and something like that could easily transfer over into hardware. When you look at projects like these in abstraction, you can draw from them a lot of great insight.

Touch screen interfaces are going to be a major part of the way we interact with hardware in the future. There are many reasons for this. Just like the move away from analog to DSP based mixers, it allows manufacturers to add a ton of functionality without increasing hardware cost. Touchscreens have the additional benefit of being able to give the user a contextual interface to work with. When I apply this idea to Traktor's effects section, I can easily envision a simplified interface that gives the user access to all 4 processors, allows changing from chained to advanced through the GUI, and allows the user to "drag" useful knobs from all processors into a "main" area for non-modal access to controls the user finds important. This interface would give Traktor users MUCH more control over effects than they have now, would be very touchscreen friendly, and would take much less space on the interface than the effects do now. I can also imagine the ability to drag important interface elements into a separate touchscreen, which could be user configured. Both of these examples allow the DJ to access features they deem important faster and more efficiently than the current Traktor interface allows.

If you don't like using touch screens, no problem. No one is forcing you to use them, and knobs, buttons, and faders aren't going away anytime soon. But for some people, this kind of interface is MORE intuitive than hardware controls, and we need to cater to those individuals as well. The WHOLE POINT of controllerisim is to provide alternate interfaces to people for whom the traditional interface isn't attractive. When people bitch about touchscreens in this manner, they sound just as archaic to me as people who bitch about MIDI controllers being used instead of turntables and vinyl.