KMI INTRODUCES NEXT-GENERATION “3D MULTI-TOUCH” PORTABLE IPAD-SIZED MUSIC CONTROLLER

 

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QuNeo: http://www.thomas-pr.com/136/photos/kmiquneo.html
QuNeo Logo: http://www.thomas-pr.com/136/photos/kmiquneologo.html
 
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KMI INTRODUCES NEXT-GENERATION “3D MULTI-TOUCH”
PORTABLE IPAD-SIZED MUSIC CONTROLLER
 
QuNeo Music Software/Hardware Pad Controller for DJs, VJs, DIY Hackers,
& Electronic Musicians
 
QuNeo Goes Viral — Takes Kickstarter by Storm
 

December 8, 2011, Berkeley, CA — Keith McMillen Instruments (KMI) www.keithmcmillen.com, a leading developer of innovative hardware and software technology that connects people to their computers, announced today the next generation of music software and hardware controllers for electronic musicians, DJs, VJs and DIY hackers, the QuNeo 3D Multi-Touch Controller.  

“3D Multi-Touch” Technology for Pressure, Velocity & Location, Swipes and Pinching 

Redefining music production and performance, QuNeo (pronounced kyoo-ne-oh) covers all of the functionality of other controllers, while adding the power of extra dimensions.  Quneo provides 27 pads, sliders and rotary sensors with 3D Multi-Touch recognition for pressure, velocity, and location sensitivity, which allows musicians playing electronic sounds to change their timbre (quality, brightness and volume) the harder or softer they are played by simply varying touch pressure. The pads are also responsive to X (left – right) and Y (up – down) and recognize multiple gestures for pinching and swiping. 

Previously with first generation products, controlling music software and hardware was limited.  You could only hit a pad, twist a knob or push a button to manipulate sounds and effects.  KMI has resolved these restrictions with its innovative next generation line of Multi-Touch controllers:  SoftStep, 12 Step, and now QuNeo, that transforms musical intent into audio through physical control of 3D Multi-touch sensor technology.    

Fits with iPad Accessories – 251 Multi-Color LEDs Provide Feedback 

QuNeo is built for portability.  A low-cost iPad-shaped music controller, it fits in iPad accessories and cases, such as clips, stands and more, providing greater physical control than an iPad.  In addition, its remarkable LED Light Feedback lumination scheme combines variably diffusive elastomers with 251 multi-color LEDs for visual feedback that is immediately responsive and delightfully informative.
 

Going Viral on Kickstarter with Record Setting Pre-Sales – Hitting Funding Goal in Just 36 Hours

Musicians desire a true Multi-Touch physical controller to perform and produce music effectively.  QuNeo has fulfilled that need, exciting musicians world-wide, with a viral campaign on Kickstarter.com — the first time that a music technology company has utilized the crowd-sourced funding of Kickstarter to pre-launch and fund the production of a product.  In a matter of a few days, QuNeo has generated record setting pre-sales for a music technology company using a Kickstarter funding campaign, hitting its funding goal in just 36 hours.  With 32 days left on the project, QuNeo is over 400% funded and has hundreds of backers.  The KMI QuNeo Kickstarter Campaign is enabling electronic musicians, DJs, VJs, and DIY hackers the opportunity to get in on the ground floor and order through a pledge of just $200.

“Great musical instruments push back and convey a sense of the physical.  They have depth and dimension and show you what they know.  We have developed sophisticated and innovative sensor technologies for musicians that enable this next generation of musical instruments – Controllerism 2.0,” said KMI founder Keith McMillen.

QuNeo Features:

• The Size of an iPad:  QuNeo is the size of an iPad 2 and fits in iPad accessories such as clips, stands and more.

• 3D Tactile Pads, Sliders, Rotary Sensors and Switches:  27 pads, sliders and rotary sensors that are pressure, velocity, and location sensitive, with 17 switches responding to how hard you press.
• LED Light Feedback:  a remarkable lumination scheme combines variably diffusive elastomers with 251 multi-color variable brightness LEDs providing visual feedback that is immediately responsive and delightfully informative.
• Class Compliant and Open Source Development Kit:  QuNeo works with USB, MIDI or OSC and will communicate with your favorite music software environments right out of the box.  More advanced users and programmers can download the development kit to create their own code to respond to QuNeo’s sensor data.

“Game changer!  Prepare to be blown away,” said Skratchworx, a leading DJ blog.  “Looking like a big touch pad, the QuNeo is in fact a thin physical iPad sized controller, resplendent with low profile tactile pads.  Now you might think that such controls might not do very much, but each of the controls is ‘pressure, velocity and location sensitive.’ Is it OK to say nextlevelness this time?” 

“The addition of actual pressure/velocity sensing and a design that gives you some tactile feedback on where the controls are, would set it apart from a device like the iPad, which has no such usable pressure response and an undifferentiated surface,” – Createdigitalmusic.com, leading electronic music blog.

Available March 2012, QuNeo is priced at $200 for pre-sale at Kickstarter.com at:  http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/kmi/quneo-multi-touch-open-source-midi-and-usb-pad-con.

About KMI 

Keith McMillen Instruments (KMI) is a private company based in Berkeley, California that develops innovative hardware and software technology that connects and controls computer applications in the music, gaming, video, ergonomic and assistive technology industries.  Visit KMI on the web at www.keithmcmillen.com.

Broadcast Engineering on KMI SoftStep KeyWorx

Broadcast Engineering on KMI SoftStep KeyWorx!

http://broadcastengineering.com/news/kmi-foot-operated-keyboard-mouse-control/

THOMAS PR WEB SITE http://www.thomaspr.com

Boston Globe on SoftStep KeyWorx multi-touch foot controller by Mark Baard! “…get desk jockeys working their feet and toes instead of letting them go numb during hours bent over the computer.”

Boston Globe on SoftStep KeyWorx multi-touch foot controller by Mark Baard

 

By Mark Baard , Boston Globe

http://www.boston.com/business/technology/articles/2011/07/04/toe_taps_operate_programmable_floor_keyboard/

 

Toe-taps operate programmable floor keyboard

By Mark Baard
July 4, 2011

A new substitute for the keyboard and mouse promises to get desk jockeys working their feet and toes instead of letting them go numb during hours bent over the computer. Designed by Keith McMillen Instruments (KMI), which also makes a USB/MIDI foot controller for music playing and recording, the SoftStep KeyWorx multi-touch foot controller might provide relief to folks with repetitive strain injury and aid those with limited use of their arms and hands.

Tweet Be the first to Tweet this!.ShareThis .In fact, the SoftStep KeyWorx (about $290) is available not only at Amazon.com, but also at online sellers of assistive technologies such as EnableMart.com and Disabled Online.

The SoftStep KeyWorx works with software that runs on your Windows PC or Apple Macintosh computer. The foot controller sits on the floor beneath you, awaiting the toe taps that will launch apps, adjust system volume, or bring different windows forward within an application.

KMI is also pitching the foot controller as a useful tool for gamers and those running simulators. The SoftStep KeyWorx has 10 keys, which are backlit in blue so you can see them when you peer into the darkness under your desk. The flexible foot controller weighs less than a pound and can fit in a backpack, according to KMI. You can program up to 100 commands into the keyboard.

While you can enter text using the SoftStep KeyWorx, the foot controller seems like it would be most useful for entering basic commands.
 

THOMAS PR WEB SITE http://www.thomaspr.com

PC Magazine on SoftStep KeyWorx by Mark Hachman

PC Magazine on SoftStep KeyWorx by Mark Hachman!

By Mark Hachman, PC Magazine

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2387394,00.asp

June 21, 2011 04:43pm EST

KMI Launches Computer Keypad – For Your Feet
By Mark Hachman

On Tuesday, KMI announced what the company claims is the first PC keyboard controller for the feet, providing benefits to the disabled, RSI sufferers, and even gamers.

Users can now buy the SoftStep KeyWorx multitouch foot controller for $289.95 from Amazon, Enablemart, and Disabled Online, Keith McMillen Instruments, the creator of the keypad, said.

Although the idea behind the keypad seems whimsical (could tap dancers or Irish dancers have an advantage?) the keypad was designed as an adjunct for the traditional PC keyboard, facilitating the use of the PC by the disabled.

In fact, the technology behind KeyWorx was originally designed for musicians, McMillen said. John Paul Jones, the bass player for Led Zeppelin, uses it for performances, he said.

“It’s not going to replace the keyboard, assuming you can use one, but it augments it to a very high degree,” McMillen said in an interview. “We’ve been controlling things with our feet for a very long time, whether it be church organs or driving cars, and there never has been a great way to take advantage of it until now.”

“Human beings will invest the time to learn a new interface device, if the payback is substantial enough,” added Bill Buxton, a principal researcher at Microsoft Research, who has specialized in multitouch systems, in a prepared statement. “It is not that different from operating a car. A driver must work the gas and brake without looking down at their feet.”

The keypad, which measures about 17 inches by 4 inches by a half inch thick, doesn’t try and replicate the QWERTY keyboard that users are used to typing with. Instead, it offers ten keys (listed 0-9) in two rows, with the 1-5 keys listed closest to the user. Four arrow keys to the right can be programmed to move the mouse cursor.

The keypad doesn’t any tactile positioning feedback, such as the small nubs that are often placed on the “F” and “J” keys on the keyboard for help with positioning. But the keys are backlit, a spokeswoman for the company confirmed, allowing users to at least see the keys in low-light conditions.

And, moreover, each key is pressure sensitive along the X and Y axis, allowing a user to slide his foot forward to increase the rate in which a window zooms, for example (assuming that’s the function the key is programmed for). The keys can also sense rotation.

“Because there’s only two rows of five keys, you can’t get too far off,” McMillen said. The associated software can also place a small window on the screen to indicate which key is being pressed. But, he added, users get used to the layout over time.

Each key is essentially a macro, and can be programmed to enter text or keystrokes, plus perform tasks such as open and close software applications, launch email, scroll through folders, and zoom in and out. The keypad will remember up to 100 sets of commands, according to KMI.

KMI added a video to demonstrate the keypad below:

http://youtu.be/S34ti8gQxLk

THOMAS PR WEB SITE: http://www.thomaspr.com

Engadget on SoftStep KeyWorx by Terrence O’Brien

Engadget on SoftStep KeyWorx by Terrence O’Brien!

 By Terrence O’Brien, Engadget

http://www.engadget.com/2011/06/22/softstep-keyworx-controls-your-pc-with-your-feet-turns-browsing/

Peripherals
SoftStep KeyWorx controls your PC with your feet, turns browsing into DDR (video)

By Terrence O’Brien posted Jun 22nd 2011 2:39AM

The SoftStep KeyWorx is primarily being sold by music shops and, while the PC pedal board certainly has a number of uses when it comes to music production, Keith McMillen Instruments has grander visions — like aiding amputees and RSI sufferers. The 10 pressure-sensitive buttons and directional pad can be used to control almost any function on a computer, and it can store up to 100 customized commands for everything from launching apps, to strafing opponents while getting your deathmatch on. The foot control peripheral is available now for $290 and you’ll find both a demo video and some PR after the break. Now, someone get Rick Allen one so we can challenge him to a round of Call of Duty.

http://youtu.be/S34ti8gQxLk

THOMAS PR WEB SITE: http://www.thomaspr.com

 

Thomas PR Signs KMI – Creators of World’s First Foot-Operated Computer

Thomas PR Signs KMI – Creators of World’s First Foot-Operated Computer

http://www.keithmcmillen.com/

THOMAS PR WEB SITE: http://www.thomaspr.com