Scott Hobbs caught my attention with his invention called Attigo. This new innovative controller for DJs uses touch screen technology in order to seemingly rebel towards futuristic design and user simplicity. The Attigo boasts a neat touchscreen interface which replaces and emulates the vinyl turntables that would usually be employing an ordinary DJ set up. The screen consists of a large waveform display which represents your loaded .Mp3. While playing, the waveform scrolls vertically across the screen as if strapped to a conveyor belt. Hobbs has implemented various touch points on the surface to imitate certain familiar turntable functions such as start/stop, cue points, pitch pontrol ( +12% / -12% ), rewind, restart, loop functions, etc. Audio control was programmed in Max/MSP while the GUI was designed using Adobe Flash and Action Script.
Although, after thorough investigation of Hobbs' website, I have come to the conclusion that he is no one hit wonder. He seems extremely passionate about providing electronic musicians and DJs with simple yet ingenious ways to produce music. It was exciting to read about his future endeavors and how he is planning to create a device that lacks any sort of physical contact, using only senors to interact with sound. His propositions sound very "Theremin-esque." Which I believe is exactly what he is going for, considering he mentions Leon and his world famous Theremin constantly as inspirations and influence. Don't we remember what happened last time someone had this similar Theremin obsession... *cough* Robert Moog *cough*. Maybe I'm being over zealous?
I look forward to watching the public reactions to the Attigo and also for any more specifics on further developed concepts that may come in the future. Yet for now, I say we sit back and wait for Scott Hobbs to create the most influential instrument of the 21st century.
