Shaping sound with an iPad? Outline is already on the Apple store…

Tablet computers have been with us, in one form or another, for some years. The launch of the original Apple iPad in April 2010, (followed by the sale of three million iPads within 80 days and almost 15 million by the end of that year), marked the point where tablet computing morphed into a mature technology suitable for professional use. The launch of iPad 2, with a range of upgraded features and an ever-growing selection of available applications for every conceivable purpose, takes tablet computing even further.

 Here at Outline, we believe that we are witnessing a ground-breaking moment in technology history, comparable to the arrival of CDs or mobile phones on the consumer market.

 The combination of a uniquely intuitive user interface, long battery life, wireless and 3G connectivity, light weight and compact size, plus a robust and stable operating system, means that the iPad can be almost anything  you want it to be, from a gaming platform to a serious tool for commercial use.

 “On the one hand, iPad might seem to be simply a toy for ‘geeks’. Then, when you use it, you stay up late at night and discover that, as well for playing games, it makes even serious work enjoyable. You can also leaf through books, navigate, keep the house under control from a distance, check the weather forecast, make video calls, record videos, take photographs, enjoy a film or a nice cartoon (ideal for the kids on the back seat of the car during long journeys), watch the TV news and do thousands - literally thousands - of other things…they all have an app available on the Apple Store”, comments Outline’s Michele Noselli.

 Remote access to system control devices is a crucial part of the modern system technician's toolbox, and the massive global success of iPad as the user interface of choice for so many applications makes it the obvious choice as a remote control platform for Outline products.

 Consequently, Outline’s development team have written a dedicated app to control its Mini-COM.P.A.S.S. iMode line array and, shortly, also the new iSM series of stage monitors (112, 212 and 115) ? which will facilitate full wireless control. The app is available on the Apple Store by following this link: http://itunes.apple.com/it/app/mini-com-p-a-s-s-linearray/id435900890?mt=8

 “A direct connection between consoles and enclosures is the facility that enabled us to win an Award for Product Innovation at PLASA in London last year. Climbing aboard the ‘magic tablet’ was inevitable and relatively simple for our R&D team, thanks mainly to the iMode technology we launched in 2009 and which is gradually being incorporated in all our self-powered loudspeaker systems”, comments Noselli.

 “iMode means having a computer in every enclosure, complete with web server and specific IP address. Users don’t access an enclosure, but a web page. And from that page they can control whatever they want, even from the other side of the globe, since the web knows no frontiers. Thanks to the eclectic iMode platform ? which is genuinely avant-garde ? it is now possible to do all this from an iPad, with a touch of the screen. This is what I’d call maximum digital interaction”, concludes Noselli.

 At Frankfurt’s Prolight+Sound and Bergamo’s Show-Way, Outline showed clients and visitors what can be done with an iPad.

 “In Frankfurt, we wanted to see the reactions of the public to this unique possibility. We didn’t expect to arouse so much interest and even a sort of physical pleasure ? even for ‘laymen’ ? regarding the control of an enclosure in real time by means of a tablet computer that can be carried around as easily as a diary”, comments Outline engineer Daniele Pagani, responsible for the project.

“Even using sophisticated FIR filters and carrying out complex operations really is child’s play…but the most enjoyable spectacle was seeing the look on people’s faces as they watched the ‘wings’ of our Mini-COM.P.A.S.S. move on the screen of the iPad a moment after having moved them by hand… this definitely enabled the concept of sensor technology to be instantly understood…”, concludes Pagani.

 

To discover more about the Outline app’s performance, write to info@outline.it