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neuroasis

MindPlace Mobile - iOS and Android Testing

Rating: 2 votes, 5.00 average.
9 Comments
by
neuroasis
, 02-23-2015 at 08:46 AM (77587 Views)
Exciting news today everyone... MindPlace is going mobile with our first AudioStrobe app!

This is our first foray into these waters so we have decided to use a 'shell application' as a testing platform to try out different interfaces and controls. This helps us to avoid the App Stores and the unfun parts of the making mobile apps and get right to the good stuff. It also allows us to switch out things quickly and try new versions.

The platform is called MobMuPlat - Mobile Music Platform. http://www.mobmuplat.com/

There are free apps for Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...edia.mobmuplat and iOS: https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/...597679399&mt=8

Install the one you need from the respective App Store. Do this first before transferring the attached test app/s to your device.

The attached archives are documents that need to be opened by the MobMuPlat app. After transferring the files and opening MobMuPlat, click the round icon with the 'i' in it... Info button and select the AudioStrobe file from the list. It should be the first one.

Once you have installed the app then transfer the archive to your phone. You can do this through iTunes for iOS (instructions on ModMuPlat site, but basically go under Apps in iTunes and scroll to the bottom to find File Sharing and click the MobMuPlat row to see its documents, then extract the zip archive on your computer and copy the 2 contained files into the iTunes window) For Android connect your phone or tablet for Media Sharing. It mounts as a drive and you can copy files into the MobMuPlat folder under storage. If you can't find this then you can just copy it to the Documents folder and then find and click those files on your device.

That's the hard way, but the way you need to learn to do it, as we change out files.

The easy way is to email the zip file to yourself and open the email attachment on your device. If MobMuPlat is installed (you did install it first right!!!) then it will extract the archive, copy the files to its documents folder and open the app. Again, this is great at first but if you want to later replace those files, it might not work.

So, there are several archives to choose from. Pick the one that fits the screen of your device.

Android Tablet:

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iPad:

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Wide Phone: (iPhone 3,4 and small Android phones) There are 2 screens that you can swipe between.

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Tall Phone Portrait (iPhone 5,6,6+ and large Android phones) There are 2 screens that you can swipe between.

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Tall Phone Landscape (iPhone 5,6,6+ and large Android phones)

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This first app is pretty simple. It sends AudioStrobe and an isochronic tone out the headphone jack. Connect one of our light and sound machines (any that supports AudioStrobe) with the AUX connection by a patch cable. You will need to turn up the frequency, volume and depth for the tone and AS color channels.

You probably want to play with the volume on your phone to get the fullest range of AudioStrobe from full brightness to off. Experiment with the phone volume and Volume sliders for the colors to set it. The Tone volume can be set to taste.

Play! Change the frequencies and brightness in realtime with your glasses on. Phone or tablet on lap below you helps.

I will make some videos on different apps you can use to record the sessions on iOS. Android I'm not sure if you can record across apps but if someone knows a way then post in comments.

So this is a start and a simple one... but fun! Please test out, comment below, and ENJOY! More apps in this MobMuPlat document format are coming.

The interfaces are not exactly pretty but they work well in my initial tests. Note the isochronic audio tone can be distorted. This will be handled better in later versions. Release early and often. This is a testing platform so you must have some tech sense and a love of exploration. There may be bugs, and some of them might be out of my control (with the MobMuPlat app)

BTW, this is open source and uses PureData as the audio engine. The included .pd files are the full patches. If you have some tech ability then have a go at expanding or altering them... but share and share alike.
Attached Thumbnails Attached Files

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Updated 02-23-2015 at 09:40 AM by neuroasis

Tags: audiostrobe
Categories
AVS , Light and Sound

Comments

  1. bluemike's Avatar
    That is great! How can I create a recorder audio track with light and sound? Also, will it be possible to do same app with Spectra Strobe instead of Audiostrobe?
  2. neuroasis's Avatar
    Hi Mike,
    What device are you using? If on iOS (iPhone, iPad) then it is very possible to record the AudioStrobe as you tweak it in realtime. There is a audio framework app called AudioBus. It costs a little but is totally worth it if you do any kind of audio on iOS.
    With AudioBus you can route the audio out of our apps to any other app that supports it. (many dozens do) GarageBand is one example. I like an app called AudioShare for this purpose. You can even record music or soundscapes from another source and mix them together
    Once you have recorded the session then you can export it as a wave or mp3 to save it.
    I am developing a workflow around it and will make some videos showing how to do it.
    If you have an Android based device then I haven't yet discovered a way to do what you can on Apple products. The audio engine is not quite as advanced yet. There might be a way and if anyone knows please inform us.
    SpectraStrobe is in the works. I am trying out some different interfaces to handle the controls in the best way.

    Thanks for playing!
    Scott
  3. synaesthesia's Avatar
    I haven't had a chance to test this Scott, but I'm guessing it works as advertised and congratulations to you and Mindplace to be the first ones to approach this .

    A feature set which I would like to see added , which would make it useful for me would be to add similar functionality of the manual mode on the Proteus. Namely some way to sync lock the beat frequency of both green and red lights so a single slider could be used to change frequency while using with glasses on so that for example the red frequency slider becomes master tempo, and also the addition of a phase shift lock button which puts the colours out of phase by 180 degrees as is done on the Proteus. These additions would allow user to get back the AS manual mode lost on the Procyon and Kasina which I used to use heavily on the Proteus whilst listening to ambient music .

    Without thinking too far ahead mapping some features to a bluetooth gamepad controller such as I use with my Android devices, would be really cool - such as using the momentary bumper buttons for pre-mapped higher rate visual light `trills' ( the equivalent of fast drum rolls) which can be so pleasurable in short doses, and mapping frequency rate of colours to joysticks for some wild visual effects to experiment with whilst listening to music ?

    Mark
  4. neuroasis's Avatar
    Hey Mark,
    Thanks for the suggestions. I'll work on them.
    What bluetooth game pad do you have? I think I can assign functions to game pads (well I know I can but bluetooth is the question). It would be cool though. Let me know which one you have and if available I'll work starting with that one, so at least one person has the same one to test.

    Scott
  5. synaesthesia's Avatar
    G'day Scott.

    yes I'm happy to try out .My controller is an Ipega 9025 - they are cheap as chips and pretty ubiquitous in the Android gaming scene- have a look at the huge range- Ebay is a good place to buy online . There is an explosion of them for gaming on pads and phones - I can clip my Samsung Note 4 into it . You can boot it up in 3 modes - one of which requires a program to run in the background for custom mappings. I usually switch on in standard game pad mode so all the standard mappings as an Xbox 360 game pad. i use it specifically with the Samsung GearVR headset . Works like a charm .

    Perhaps we can PM on some appropriate gamepad mappings of some cool stuff effects ..there are a lot of bumpers and buttons on a gamepad. I'm just guessing but I'm sure bluetooth gamepad support is all built into the Android platform and if you make the mappings in your app builder they will automatically work - you probably dont have to think about the Bluetooth aspect..
  6. neuroasis's Avatar
    Alright, so I am looking at the white one (Kasina close match) http://www.ebay.com/itm/IPega-PG-902...item1e9126ce10

    And tell me about the Samsung GearVR ... how you like it and all of that. I have seen it and been interested but kind of decided to wait for the Oculus Rift with in built audio and all of that. It is supposedly right around the corner.

    But I am getting really serious about app development now.
  7. synaesthesia's Avatar
    Yes thats the beast .... nice colour match to the Gear VR .

    Whether to wait for the RIFT consumer or not - big question ( ok I'm going to burn off some caffeine here ) . They have sold 100k Dev kit 2 now - there are a lot of people working on new apps .

    I have had an Oculus DK2 since about November last year . The Gear VR is a much more polished device. Oculus was involved of course so they managed to pass on what they allready new. The GPU capabilities are much more limited on a phone , so the poly and texture grade and shaders will be simpler. The 3 axis head tracking on the gear VR is excellent even though running at 60 hz refresh not 75hz like DK2. The situation with no IPD or focus adjustment ( other than optionl lens set ) is hell on the DK2. I had to order after market 3D printed adjusters for IPD - and use a software hack - the retrofit constantly hurts my nose . For some reason the GearVR is much less sensitive to IPD - they are built for 64 average and mine is 70 but it is perfectly usable - only a slight chromatic aberration in one eye. I think the lenses are a better design in Gear VR and Chromatic Aberration correction via software is critical to have correct IPD in the rift -which is why the DK2 has little sensitivity to wrong user IPD . The latest version of Rift prototype uses two screens so it is clear that CV1 ( commercial release ) will have IPD adjust.

    The most important feature of the Gear VR is that you have adjustable lens focus - I am about -5 in both eyes and I can get crisp focus no glasses unlike the Rift . The headset is lighter and more light tight . There is a problem with fogging . It is warm and humid here in Australia at the moment and I have fitted a 5V 30mm fan running off 3v AAA cells . I drilled a hole in one side to get the air . Problem solved . The Gear VR for Samsung S6 about to be relesed has a fan built in - every iteration will be called the innovator edition until commercial release.

    The lack of positional tracking is still aproblem with gear VR - if you move forward or backward or sideways the world moves with you which can be nauseating . At the same time RIFT DK2 has positional tracking but you are tethered by leads so you can't move far anyway ! But positional tracking totally cures the slight nausea of moving your head in 6DOF with only 3DOF tracking .

    The `screen door' effect is pretty bad in DK2 with a 1080P screen ( you are probably seeing about 800 pixels spread over 100 degree FOV
    It is much improved with Gear VR which has a 1440p screen vertically but still pretty obvious and intrusive if you are watching a movie in the virtual theatre. I beleive CV1 has at least 1440p screens with fresnel lenses that make screen door much less visible. Note 5 will probably have 4K screen but they will not go higher than this as for a consumer phone 1440p is allready perfect to the naked eye. Android are developing a special operating system for VR and NVidea are developing GPU specific for headsets so I expect in a couple of years time you will have stand alone VR headsets with custom 4 K screens and no phone needed for under $300 ! 4K will not be enough to get rid of screen door but will get close .

    The apps I really like on Gear VR are the virtual cinemas , 360 degree spherical photos and videos which take me straight to somewher real .
    The cinema is amazing . The sense of scale in VR is mind blowing . The next version of operating system will allow 360 degree 3D videos in the media player which will be great . You can watch your photos and videos in a big virtual cinema which is great and the VOID cinema is in all blank and you can set the screen where you want so watch your video content while laying down !. The apps will start to roll out soon - we don't have access to the commercial VR shop yet in Aus so can only download demos - so nothing much playable yet though I am not much into games.

    The killer app for me will be a 3D music visualiser ! I am sure there are some in the wings .

    I consider the VR market to be the wild west - a new human frontier that will be only limited by the imagination . Is it good value right now ? Probably only for enthusiasts, but in a couple of years it will a mature form ready for the public. if you can use a really state of the art phone then a Note 4 or S6 is agood choice for the next few years . I had other reasons to buy a Note 4 so I could justify the expense.

    I'd recommend putting together a Google Cardboard head set together for a few dollars , stick in an Android phone and view some f the hundreds of side by side videos of RIFT and Gear VR to get and idea of what it looks like . The real thing - with perfect head tracking and optics and huge FOV is way better but at least it gives you a little taster .

    The tools for building 3D apps are free now ( ie Unity Free ) and there are loads of vids on Youtube to guide you on building worlds. I had one up and running for the Rift in about 15 minutes .

    Hope this helps . A good place to read user comments and all things developing are the REDDIT threads for Oculus Rift and GearVR and register as a developer on the Oculus site and access the forums for both - theres some seriously talented people on there to help .
  8. neuroasis's Avatar
    This is excellent information. I appreciate your expertise in this area. It appears that the current rumor mill says that the commercial Rift likely won't be released even this year. There must be some major technology upgrades just around the corner that have not reached the mainstream yet to be affordable enough for mass production.

    Always for me in cases like this, it is not 'if' but 'when'. When should I invest the money and time?

    I notice that Unity is coming forward in a big way and with 6 opened up much more on the free level.
  9. artron's Avatar
    There is a good unity course on udemy, fwiw...I have enrolled but haven't started it. And looking at those ipego options, I like this one http://www.ebay.com/itm/Ipega-Joysti...item4aedef92b5 as it supports android and iOS.