We invite you to create your own interactive product protoype, responsive display environment, new game controller or alternate musical instrument ! The I-CubeX environment enables you to do just that.
It is designed to enable you to use sensors for controlling multimedia content. It can also be used to obtain sensor data for (scientific) analysis.
With the I-CubeX, translate sensor signals with high resolution into MIDI messages that are transmitted through a USB cable and made available through a virtual serial (COM) port.
Then, send these messages to data analysis/display software, map them to virtual joysticks for use in gaming software, or, since the encoding is MIDI, to a variety of 3rd party hardware or software devices that perform sound synthesis, graphical animation, video effects, etc.. Voilà !
What you get
The I-CubeX USB-microSystem includes a
USB-microDig analog sensor interface (USB powered), a Turn sensor and
a MountingKit. Firmware upgrades will be made available at no cost.
Please note
Please note that to configure the USB-microDig with the editor, you will need a free USB port on your computer.
For a thumb-sized wireless version, check out the
Wi-microSystem.
For a thumb-sized MIDI-only version, check out the microSystem. For a MIDI-only version with more inputs and resolution, check out the
System.
To capture more of the real world check these sensors !
About the USB-microDig
With the thumb-sized USB-microDig you can communicate at very high speed, because it uses a USB cable to transmit data instead of a MIDI cable ! It is USB v2.0 (upto 480 Mbps) and USB v1.1 (upto 12 Mbps) compatible. And instead of making sensor data available through a MIDI port at 31.25 Kbps, sensor data appears through a virtual serial (COM) port at 125 Kbps. USB is a global standard, so you can use the USB-microDig anywhere in the world, with most operating systems (Windows 2000/XP/Server 2003/Vista, MacOS 9, MacOS X, Linux 2.6, Linux 2.4). It can operate in both stand alone mode (sensor data is processed before it is transmitted through the USB cable) as well as host mode (raw sensor data is transmitted through the USB cable, so you can use a computer program to process the sensor data). The beauty of stand alone mode is that it simplifies your I-CubeX setup because you have one less software program to worry about ! Configure the USB-microDig with the stand alone mode editor and it will remember the settings after power down (ie. unplugging it from the USB port).
If you need raw sensor data or if you need more sensor mapping or analysis complexity, use the USB-microDig in host mode in combination with a programming or analysis environment to process the sensor data.
For hardware hackers, the USB-microDig features a hardware hacking area to add your own sensor circuit. Don't hesitate to ask us about the USB-microDig's special features: Its windows COM port compatibility allows the USB-microDig to communicate with any software that accepts data from a virtual serial port. The "aux" row of the input/output connector contains 8 digital outputs dedicated to controlling actuators, enabling you to have both 8 sensor inputs as well as 8 actuator outputs. Also, note the USB-microDig's I2C capability which is one of the more common bi-directional communications protocols used in robotics for sensors and actuators - connect up to 4 I2C devices directly to it. But you can connect many more I2C devices, since they can be daisy-chained !
Software support
Download our latest software from our download page, where you will find the configuration editor for
Windows (MacOS editor will be available very soon),
Max plugins, as well as manuals and tutorials. Plug-ins for host mode are available for Max (Windows and MacOS) and jMax (Linux, Unix). Note that the I-CubeX can be used with any operating system as long as you run software that can handle the I-CubeX system exclusive messages.
Further reading
For further reading on Sunday evening, enjoy the
iCube/oCube v2.0x tutorials. You can also simply download
and install the Windows and/or MacOS editor software to try it out ! For the deepest understanding of the ultimate controller or in case you just want to hack your own I-CubeX editor, check the USB-microDig firmware documentation.
