Sensel has introduced the Morph – a new control surface that promises to become any controller that you can imagine.
The Sensel Morph is a first pressure-sensitive, multi-touch input device that can be used as a sensitive pad, with piano or control surface overlays, or with your own custom-designed overlays.
Here’s the official video intro:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1152958674/the-sensel-morph-interaction-evolved/description
The Sensel Morph offers a very high dynamic range of force sensitivity, so it can detect not just your fingers, but any object touching it, from a paintbrush to a drumstick.
The Morph works out of the box with many applications, and it’s also hackable for those more technically-inclined. You can connect it to your computer via USB, to your iPad via Bluetooth, or to your Arduino via developer cables.
You can also use it with Overlays, all which are automatically detected, for each supported use case.
The Overlays are optional “physical apps” made of a thin, flexible layer that you can place over the device to provide a visual “map” and tactile feedback for each mode’s unique functionality.
Here’s a video that takes a deeper look at using the Sensel Morph for music:
Production of the Sensel Morph is being funded by a Kickstarter campaign, which is already fully funded. It’s available to project backers for US $249. See the project site for details.
It seems like a cool concept from 2005 but in todays Tablet world what is the real benefit of this versus internet/movie/apps. Opinion of one man.
Erm, Tablet cant pressure sensitive isn’t it ? and this thing claimed to be hackable, so can be used for several stuff. Maybe this thing aim for specific audience
iPad Pro IS pressure sensitive and so are iPhone 6S and 6S Plus.
There’s no 3D Touch on the iPad Pro. Only the optional pencil is pressure sensitive.
Maybe learning a bit more about the capabilities of 3D printing and how it can really take this platform ahead will excite those who don’t see the potential.
I think it’s cool. I think having a customisable and tactile interface is a different thing to a tablet, it’s nice to have adaptable hard ware separate from your screen/computer. But you may be right in the end.
Embossed buttons have better tactile feedback.
Given that the market will soon be flooded by tablets with pressure sensativity (lipped by the iPhone 6s) I’m not realy sure anyone will need this, I suspect the next iPad Air will be pressure sensative and thhat together with the range of available apps will make it the ultimate portable tool and daw input device
The real competitor for this is Apple’s new force touch screen technology – imagine that applied to an iPad pro!
That will be called iPad Pro Air 2 😉
Can’t really imagine that Apple would NOT put force touch to next big iPad.
No, that will be “iPad Pro 2” and most likely “iPad Air 3”.
I disagree.
I agree with you.
i would rather have a few cheap ( -$50) controllers
than one $250 controller that does one thing at a time
how about something besides music interface?
like certain body parts?
reach out, reach out and put touch on someone ( old tv ad)
I like this controller! It’s the kind of controller I have been waiting for. Hope I can scrounge together the cash to afford it. Seems like it will be an excellent & highly adaptable XYZ controller. I wish I had one now to explore the subtleties of it’s sonic potential. Would love to see some videos of it interacting with music software.
seems like a gimmick for DIYers on etsy or something
I see absolutely no advantage to using this instead of any other touch surface. And the rubber looks like it would be too tacky for smooth finger movements. Plus, the each of the overlays needs software to make it function. You’ll also have to constantly move your eyes from the computer screen down to the touch pad to see where the buttons are (rather than interacting directly through touch screen or mouse). You’ll need to install and update apps for each overlay, and you’ll have to tote around an extra (iPad sized) device with the rubber overlays. My guess is that would get tiresome pretty quickly. It’s just more stuff with no real major benefit. That’s my opinion anyway.
I think this is being marketed too broadly.
As stated here in the comments, really without a killer app this currently has no real benefit to productivity in a general sense. But in terms of creative use, music and art, it is interesting – and I think that needs dedicated focus, for both R&D and marketing.
This is essentially a small Roli seaboard if you print the interface, a £600 device, or a small Linnstrument, a £1000 device. A 3D expressive controller with unlimited hardware and software setups for £160 notes! If I was currently developing such costly expressive tools then I’d be deeply worried by this new product – as form factor is the only current selling point.
If someone can built and market an adaptable expressive 3D controller for music performance and production for under £200 then they have potential to own that market, and make a lot of money in the process.
And I don’t think they understand or appreciate any of this within this pitch – they seem to pretend at it being revolutionary, yet if they can get a solid affordable 3D controller to work right for music production then that could be revolutionary.
I got this in response to a question about reading speeds
“Full resolution: (10mm finger separation) – 250 Hz
Half resolution: (20mm finger separation) – 787.4 Hz
Quarter resolution: (40mm finger separation) – 2.3 KHz
In the spec on the Kickstarter page, we actually spec’d the full resolution at 125 Hz, and the half resolution at 500 Hz just to be on the conservative side. When there are contacts on the sensor, these frame rates dip a bit to account for touch processing. However, we’re aiming to be as close as possible to the numbers you see above by the time we ship the device. It’s pretty fun to use the quarter resolution with drumsticks. The sensor picks up drum rolls and is extremely responsive.”
(I believe the soundplane reads at 1KHz)
if this thing can truly read at twice the speed of a soundplane that will be the reason this is different from every other controller on the market and the pressure sensitive tablets coming in the future
I’m interested.
It looks like a smaller Quneo with no illuminated feedback.
By “hackable” – what is the meaning here?
Can the layouts designs be customized by the user ie. designed and printed at home ?
eg. to make a control surface for a VST or hardware MIDI synth ?
– and will it be available in different sizes (… 10″ or bigger) ?
Yes, it will be called Sensel Pro and will come in 12.9″ size 😉