Interface

Brooklyn-based instrument maker Landscape is bringing players closer to the action by essentially turning them into human patch cables. Instead of using a cable to patch between different modules on a rack, the AllFlesh jack is plugged in and the performer's touch bridges the gap.

If you've ever sat down to a dish of Jell-O and wished that it was a touch-screen control , Carnegie Mellon University has got your back with a technology called Electrick that turns almost any surface, including the gelatin dessert, into an interactive control using a can of spray paint.

We've recently seen attempts at extending smartwatch user interfaces off of the screen, and onto the wearer's body. One of the latest, known as WatchSense, allows users to control a mobile device by moving the fingers of one hand on and above the back of the other.​

To try and make up for dehumanizing modern music by creating the LM1 drum machine in the 1980s, Roger Linn developed the an expressive interface called the LinnStrument. Now the electronic instrument designer has created a smaller and more affordable version called the LinnStrument 128.​

​French startup Joué has revealed a new digital interface which appears to offer the kind of expressive playing found in the Seaboard Rise, but can also be used as a MIDI controller, beat-maker, DJ mixing console and more – just by swapping out colorful modules.

Instrument interface pioneers IK Multimedia have announced a replacement for 2013's iRig HD. The iRig HD 2 digital guitar/bass interface for iPhone, iPad, Mac and PC boasts improved sound quality, more ins and outs, and a wet/dry signal switch.

​Tascam has released two USB interfaces designed to help podcasters focus on the content rather than complicated equipment. The Ministudio series is made up of a Personal edition stocked with essential podcasting tools and a Creator edition that adds advanced audio and video production features.

Full-blown standing desks, desktop converters or something inbetween are all aimed at getting you off your butt for the benefit of your health. Researchers have designed a system to help make the most of this upright approach to working by using lower limb activity for computer interaction.

If you're finding that there just aren't enough shortcuts on your computer's keyboard, the Finger-Aware Shortcuts system may be what you need. It accesses different functions assigned to the same key, based on which finger you use to press it.

Using your fingers on a smartphone's screen can be hard enough, with the smaller screen of a smartwatch being even more of a challenge. It was with this in mind that scientists created FingerIO, which turns such devices into sonar systems that are capable of tracking the user's finger movements.​

Finding a way to implant electrodes into the brain could have huge implications for the treatment of brain disorders. Last month, researchers from Italy and the UK made a huge step forward by showing that the world’s favorite wonder-material, graphene, can successfully interface with neurons.

There's no doubt that tablets and smartphones have made multi-track audio recording on the run easier than ever. But connecting instruments to iPads and iPhones has never been quite as simple. The iRig Pro Duo helps make that final connection and allows musicians to truly record on the run.