A Unified Toolkit for Accessing Human Interface Devices in Pure Data and Max / MSP

Hans-Christoph Steiner, David Merrill, and Olaf Matthes

Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression

Abstract:

In this paper we discuss our progress on the HID toolkit, a collection of software modules for the Pure Data and Max/MSP programming environments that provide unified, user-friendly and cross-platform access to human interface devices (HIDs) such as joysticks, digitizer tablets, and stomp-pads. These HIDs are ubiquitous, inexpensive and capable of sensing a wide range of human gesture, making them appealing interfaces for interactive media control. However, it is difficult to utilize many of these devices for custom-made applications, particularly for novices. The modules we discuss in this paper are [hidio], which handles incoming and outgoing data between a patch and a HID, and [input noticer], which monitors HID plug/unplug events. The goal in creating these modules is to preserve maximal flexibility in accessing the input and output capabilities of HIDs, in a manner that is ap- proachable for both sophisticated and beginning designers. This paper documents our design notes and implementa- tion considerations, current progress, and ideas for future extensions to the HID toolkit.

Citation:

Hans-Christoph Steiner, David Merrill, and Olaf Matthes. 2007. A Unified Toolkit for Accessing Human Interface Devices in Pure Data and Max / MSP. Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.1177251

BibTeX Entry:

  @inproceedings{Steiner2007,
 abstract = {In this paper we discuss our progress on the HID toolkit, a collection of software modules for the Pure Data and Max/MSP programming environments that provide unified, user-friendly and cross-platform access to human interface devices (HIDs) such as joysticks, digitizer tablets, and stomp-pads. These HIDs are ubiquitous, inexpensive and capable of sensing a wide range of human gesture, making them appealing interfaces for interactive media control. However, it is difficult to utilize many of these devices for custom-made applications, particularly for novices. The modules we discuss in this paper are [hidio], which handles incoming and outgoing data between a patch and a HID, and [input noticer], which monitors HID plug/unplug events. The goal in creating these modules is to preserve maximal flexibility in accessing the input and output capabilities of HIDs, in a manner that is ap- proachable for both sophisticated and beginning designers. This paper documents our design notes and implementa- tion considerations, current progress, and ideas for future extensions to the HID toolkit.},
 address = {New York City, NY, United States},
 author = {Steiner, Hans-Christoph and Merrill, David and Matthes, Olaf},
 booktitle = {Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression},
 doi = {10.5281/zenodo.1177251},
 issn = {2220-4806},
 keywords = {nime07},
 pages = {375--378},
 title = {A Unified Toolkit for Accessing Human Interface Devices in Pure Data and Max / MSP},
 url = {http://www.nime.org/proceedings/2007/nime2007_375.pdf},
 year = {2007}
}