Monome Arc

March 4 2011

Monome added a new awesome device to their pedigree of simple yet uber-slick controllers. The Arc is an unit of 2 or 4 large rotary encoder + push button with LED ring all around. As with the other controllers, the aim is to offer high-quality minimalist interfaces that are adaptable and very flexible. The Arc continues down this path. You ask why pay 500$ for two rotary encoders in a nice wooden case? Well, sure it is not cheap, but once you start using and programming the controller and its array of LEDs for feedback, the possibilities are almost limitless. The Arc provides top quality hardware and a robust API for realizing those simple yet super clever interfaces. The rings of variable intensity LEDs are an amazing canvas to develop new interactions.

Monome is very open and honest about its mission and pricing scheme.

we expect a lot of skepticism regarding our pricing, and we understand, given we live in an age where global economics can facilitate amazingly low prices. please understand that we’re making small runs of highly specialized objects for a relatively small market— we value design, we value materials, and we’re concerned with where things come from and where they’ll end up. we’re not interested in compromising these values to simply reduce costs.

Small is beautiful sometimes! Although not fully an open source hardware device, Monome is very open to the community and supports it extensively through open specifications and protocols. Here are a few videos showing the new Arc in use:

If you can see this, then you might need a Flash Player upgrade or you need to install Flash Player if it’s missing. Get Flash Player from Adobe. This error may appear if the URL path to the embedded object is broken or you have connectivity issue to the embedded object. Powered BY XVE Various Embed.
If you can see this, then you might need a Flash Player upgrade or you need to install Flash Player if it’s missing. Get Flash Player from Adobe. This error may appear if the URL path to the embedded object is broken or you have connectivity issue to the embedded object. Powered BY XVE Various Embed.

There is a good Q&A about the new Arc and its creator on CreateDigitalMusic.com By the way, we have a monome 40h (first version) in the Interaction Workshop if you want to experiment with it.

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