reacTable

The "reacTable" has been receiving international attention since it was used on stage during the "Volta" concert tour of the renowned singer Björk. At this exhibition, the instrument is introduced in the form of a hands-on installation that allows visitors to get in touch and play with it. The player of this novel kind of electronic musical instrument can manipulate sounds and its visual representations by moving or turning multiple objects on an illuminated round tabletop. Sonic and eventually musical structures are created based on the objects’ orientation, distance and the relationship between them. The instrument can be played by two or more persons at once, while the spectators can monitor the other’s performance and tangible manipuation of the sound elements, in order to study and acquire performance skills intuitively.

The instrument was developed by a team of digital luthiers, working mainly on the design of new musical interfaces, such as tangible music instruments and musical applications for mobile devices. The reacTable team was recently awarded with various international prizes such as the "Ars Electronica Golden Nica", the "Premi de la Cuitat de Barcelona 2007" and two "D&AD Yellow Pencils" and the Icelandic singer Björk has successfully used the reacTable during her last "Volta" world tour.
http://mtg.upf.edu/reactable/