PanMan - a modular tangible controller for sound spatialization

Krzysztof Cybulski, Szczepan Busko, and Zachariasz Zalewski

Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression

Abstract

PanMan is a performance-oriented modular midi controller, conceived as a tangible interface for panning multiple sound sources in multichannel audio systems. It consists of four independent control units and a docking base - the modular design allows each of the units to be either physically attached to the base (in which case it might be used as a single controller by a single user) or connected to it via extension cords, allowing up to four users to participate in an interactive sound installation experience or a collaborative performance setting.The physical controls on a single module consist of a joystick/trackball hybrid – a dome-shaped control device designed to be operated with a single finger – and a thumbwheel for additional parameter control, positioned at the edge of the module, allowing for one-handed operation of three parameters. The design facilitates operation by both right- and left-handed users, also allowing a single user to operate two or more controllers simultaneously, controlling a number of parameters at once.

Citation

Krzysztof Cybulski, Szczepan Busko, and Zachariasz Zalewski. 2025. PanMan - a modular tangible controller for sound spatialization. Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.15699656 [PDF]

BibTeX Entry

@article{nime2025_64,
 abstract = {PanMan is a performance-oriented modular midi controller, conceived as a tangible interface for panning multiple sound sources in multichannel audio systems. It consists of four independent control units and a docking base - the modular design allows each of the units to be either physically attached to the base (in which case it might be used as a single controller by a single user) or connected to it via extension cords, allowing up to four users to participate in an interactive sound installation experience or a collaborative performance setting.The physical controls on a single module consist of a joystick/trackball hybrid – a dome-shaped control device designed to be operated with a single finger – and a thumbwheel for additional parameter control, positioned at the edge of the module, allowing for one-handed operation of three parameters. The design facilitates operation by both right- and left-handed users, also allowing a single user to operate two or more controllers simultaneously, controlling a number of parameters at once.},
 address = {Canberra, Australia},
 articleno = {64},
 author = {Krzysztof Cybulski and Szczepan Busko and Zachariasz Zalewski},
 booktitle = {Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression},
 doi = {10.5281/zenodo.15699656},
 editor = {Doga Cavdir and Florent Berthaut},
 issn = {2220-4806},
 month = {June},
 numpages = {3},
 pages = {443--445},
 title = {PanMan - a modular tangible controller for sound spatialization},
 track = {Paper},
 url = {http://nime.org/proceedings/2025/nime2025_64.pdf},
 year = {2025}
}