Comments on: Updated Lemur Touchscreen Display Coming

By: GavinFAW

GavinFAW — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 13:49:34 +0000

Wacom have a really good touch screen on the way that is also pressure sensitive. I think 1 year more before it is released. Currently they are using the technolgy in their dj hardware and it is very responsive and accurate.

By: Peter Kirn

Peter Kirn — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 16:34:02 +0000

@EXP: Actually, it’s not quite that simple. My understanding is that part of what makes iPhone unique is that it is able to employ a different touch method because of its size. So scale matters in terms of quantity, but so does physical size. It’ll be interesting to see if the rumored Apple pad device surfaces, and what that does in terms of size/price. Certainly, I don’t expect whatever that is to be alone.

By: E.X.P

E.X.P — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 04:02:44 +0000

@Torley
the iphone is cheap because , a lot of em have been produced.
if there were as lemurs as iphones produced , the lemur would have been cheaper. the more you produce , the cheaper you can negociate your product production. period

now the iphone is less precise , smaller and not as tough as the lemur. I already broke one iphone using it as a controller.

By: Torley

Torley — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 18:35:52 +0000

There is… a kind of strange valley between very affordable, consumer touchscreens (like iPhone) and significantly more expensive, specialist models such as the Lemur. I haven’t used the TouchOSC app but I’ve repeatedly heard “It’s like a Lemur but much cheaper!” (Obligatory “It’s not the same, but the allure remains.”)

As covered recently, with the USB mini-monitors and others becoming more accessible with multi-touch, it’ll open up many more midrange options.

I love it when at-one-time novelty and esoteric controllers become available to the masses. Or common controllers are engineered to do experimental stuff, like Wii hacking.

By: tonvibration

tonvibration — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 11:52:56 +0000

Hey Pedro,
nice idea with that kind of editor software for every/normal hardware. That is definitely needed. Those i-phone apps are cool (esp TouchOSC), but I wonder, that there is not much software for building controls on normal (single) touchscreens you migth get on ebay for a few hundert or less. (there is usine,
http://createdigitalmusic.com/2008/10/08/modular-sound-by-touch-usine/
,but thats the only one I know so far) This migth be intereting even now, as long as multitouch hardware is still expensive. So go for it, and drop me a line…

By: Armando

Armando — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 11:32:51 +0000

Peter,

looking forward to the video! I was going to order one this weekend and to my shock found everyone back ordered. Talk about perfect timing! Thanks for the heads up!

By: Pedro Mendes

Pedro Mendes — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 07:19:52 +0000

Hi all!

First of all sorry Derrick S for my emotional reply! I feel very strongly about this kind of thing because i work everyday designing apps for multitouch tables and walls.

It’s really interesting to see each persons thoughts on touch/multitouch interfaces. How opinions differ as to either it should be a dedicated interface or integrated with DAW, VSTs.

I think stuff like steinberg’s cubase controller app for iPhone is a really interesting step forward. It’s not a replacement for their standard mouse interface, but it adds value and possibilities to an existing platform.

And i really don’t think that there is a need for specialized hardware device with proprietary software. Actually i’ve been using my own MIDI/OSC interface software for a while in my live setup, using a Gigabyte m912 netbook tablet as hardware. I also use my iPod touch with the amazing touchOSC. I think this is the way forward, but still, the lemur’s software design is spot on, only a shame you have to buy their damned hardware.

I have plans to start and open source Processing project for touch/multitouch control on midi/osc. I hope to get it up n running by the last quarter of 2009 (hope it’s not too late) and i’m really interested in listening to everyone’s opinion!

Keep the brainstorm going!

By: mfw

mfw — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 02:37:28 +0000

holding

By: mfw

mfw — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 02:36:37 +0000

yeah Derrick, thats exactly what i was talking about – the thing at 3.30 on ..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKSXPsLJ6f8

if something like that could be semi-standardised and plug makers were to build alternative virtual interfaces for that standard, then that would be a big jump forward from anything existing today … but seeing how hard it is to get any agreement on any kind of standards, i’m not hlding my breath

thanks for the link Derrick, i was pretty sure that i hadn’t hallucinated that …

By: vanceg

vanceg — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 01:51:12 +0000

Just to save folks some speculation and time – It appears that the only change to the “new” Lemur will be a replacement part/version of the overlay which covers the screen. From the Jazz Mutant forum:
JazzMutant’s groundbreaking products Lemur and Dexter have been in short supply over the past couple months, due to a combination of unprecedented success and a complex touch panel bubbling issue which limited our output capability.

The company has decided not to compromise on quality. Despite assembly improvement and quality control enhancements, the last batch of touch panels have failed to meet our standards. As a result, we decided not to resume the production of the Lemur at the moment. In order to avoid this issue in the future, we are now completely redesigning the touch panel component of the Lemur.

The upside of all this is that the next batch of Lemur will feature the latest generation of our multi-touch technology: better optical performances, higher precision, greater accuracy and responsiveness. It will be clearer and have brighter colors.

We plan on launching the new multi-touch in October, and of course we will keep you updated as we get closer to launch date. We once again thank you for your patience, and look forward to sharing the excitement in October !

and

The size of the display remains the same. We’re “only” talking about upgrading the touch-panel here, that is, the resistive matrix / plastic sheet on top of the display. This also involves upgrading or re-programming the related electronic components.

This looks like good news for some Lemur owners and future Lemur owners…but not really grounds for wild speculation (though, I wouldn’t want to discourage wild speculation!)