I-CubeX comprises a system of sensors, actuators and interfaces that are configured by a personal computer. Using

MIDI MIDI (; Musical Instrument Digital Interface) is a technical standard that describes a communications protocol, digital interface, and electrical connectors that connect a wide variety of electronic musical instruments, computers, and ...

Bluetooth Bluetooth is a short-range wireless technology standard that is used for exchanging data between fixed and mobile devices over short distances and building personal area networks (PANs). In the most widely used mode, transmission power is limi ...

or the Universal Serial Bus (

USB Universal Serial Bus (USB) is an industry standard that establishes specifications for cables, connectors and protocols for connection, communication and power supply (interfacing) between computers, peripherals and other computers. A broad ...

) as the basis for all communication, the complexity is managed behind a variety of software tools, including an end-user configuration editor,

Max (software) Max, also known as Max/MSP/Jitter, is a visual programming language for music and multimedia developed and maintained by San Francisco-based software company Cycling '74. Over its more than thirty-year history, it has been used by composers, per ...

plugins, and a

C++ C++ (pronounced "C plus plus") is a high-level general-purpose programming language created by Danish computer scientist Bjarne Stroustrup as an extension of the C programming language, or "C with Classes". The language has expanded significan ...

Application Programming Interface An application programming interface (API) is a way for two or more computer programs to communicate with each other. It is a type of software interface, offering a service to other pieces of software. A document or standard that describes how t ...

(API), which allows applications to be developed in

Mac OS X macOS (; previously OS X and originally Mac OS X) is a Unix operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc. since 2001. It is the primary operating system for Apple's Mac computers. Within the market of desktop and la ...

Linux Linux ( or ) is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution, which ...

and

Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...

operating systems. Usage is primarily focused on allowing exploration and construction of alternative physical computer interaction systems, but have most notably been adopted by music enthusiasts, as they greatly simplify musical instrument mods and creation of novel

electronic musical instruments Electronic may refer to: *Electronics, the science of how to control electric energy in semiconductor * ''Electronics'' (magazine), a defunct American trade journal * Electronic storage, the storage of data using an electronic device * Electronic ...

MIDI controllers A MIDI controller is any hardware or software that generates and transmits Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI) data to MIDI-enabled devices, typically to trigger sounds and control parameters of an electronic music performance. They mos ...

and

audio control surface In the domain of digital audio, a control surface is a human interface device (HID) which allows the user to control a digital audio workstation or other digital audio application. Generally, a control surface will contain one or more controls tha ...

s (such as presented at

NIME New Interfaces for Musical Expression, also known as NIME, is an international conference dedicated to scientific research on the development of new technologies and their role in musical expression and artistic performance. History The confer ...

), e.g. for

electronic music Electronic music is a genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means ( electroac ...

generation, and visual artists, as they greatly simplify interactive

installation art Installation art is an artistic genre of three-dimensional works that are often site-specific and designed to transform the perception of a space. Generally, the term is applied to interior spaces, whereas exterior interventions are often called ...

and

electronic art Electronic art is a form of art that makes use of electronic media. More broadly, it refers to technology and/or electronic media. It is related to information art, new media art, video art, digital art, interactive art, internet art, and elec ...

(such as presented at Ars Electronica and SIGGRAPH). In both cases, it is extensively used for teaching. It allows the construction of complex interactive systems out of simpler components. I-CubeX is designed and produced by Infusion Systems.

History

I-CubeX arose out of a research project in 1995The I-Cube System: moving towards sensor technology for artists
/ref> directed by Axel Mulder at the Department of Kinesiology,

Simon Fraser University Simon Fraser University (SFU) is a public research university in British Columbia, Canada, with three campuses, all in Greater Vancouver: Burnaby (main campus), Surrey, and Vancouver. The main Burnaby campus on Burnaby Mountain, located from ...

to address the need for better tools for artists to create

interactive art Interactive art is a form of art that involves the spectator in a way that allows the art to achieve its purpose. Some interactive art installations achieve this by letting the observer walk through, over or around them; others ask the artist ...

and for musicians to more easily create or modify musical instruments. It was inspired by projects such as

STEIM STEIM (STudio for Electro Instrumental Music) was a center for research and development of new musical instruments in the electronic performing arts, located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Beginning in the 1970's, STEIM became known as a pioneering cen ...

's Sensorlab. While I-CubeX helped opening up access to technology for artists interested in sensor technology, it in itself inspired others to create new technology. The field evolved into

physical computing Physical computing involves interactive systems that can sense and respond to the world around them. While this definition is broad enough to encompass systems such as smart automotive traffic control systems or factory automation processes, it ...

and it was followed by the creation of a number of other generic platforms for applying sensor technology in the (performing) arts such as

Arduino Arduino () is an open-source hardware and software company, project, and user community that designs and manufactures single-board microcontrollers and microcontroller kits for building digital devices. Its hardware products are licensed under ...

, as well as the development of very application specific sensors for human interfacing and

human interface devices A human interface device or HID is a type of computer device usually used by humans that takes input from humans and gives output to humans. The term "HID" most commonly refers to the USB-HID specification. The term was coined by Mike Van Fl ...

. While the focus of I-CubeX technology was initially on translating sensor signals to

(Digitizer, microDig) for music enthusiasts, the transmission protocols now include Bluetooth Low Energy and

WiFi Wi-Fi () is a family of wireless network protocols, based on the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, which are commonly used for local area networking of devices and Internet access, allowing nearby digital devices to exchange data by radio wa ...

(WiDig), Bluetooth Classic (Wi-microDig) and

(WiDig, USB-microDig) so as to facilitate its use by all kinds of researchers and engineers, as well as MIDI.

References

External links

About I-CubeX
{{DEFAULTSORT:Icubex Computing input devices Electronic musical instruments Multimodal interaction Sensors Physical computing

History

See also

References

External links