This was a project that happened back in 2010, I created (together with three friends) a Twister mat, like the well-known game.
Back then my friends and I really started to use digital music controllers to control, make and change music. So why not make a giant music controller?This game can be used as an appliance for artists on stage to control music software.
A music controller consists of a unit with knobs, faders and buttons. We wanted to use this MIDI technology to control a lighting desk, because MIDI is not only to control music. You can control anything you want that uses that protocol. For example: you can also control light or video with it.
The system consisted of the Twister game, which was actually the music controller. The coloured circular dots were the controllers buttons. The Twister mat was connected with a computer that received the MIDI signals and converted the signals to so-called “sysex strings”, this is a hexadecimal language which the lighting desk could communicate with. The lighting desk was connected to the usual equipment to control lights through DMX. This is a very standard protocol for lighting desks.
As seen in de picture above there are light fixtures being controlled when the coloured dots are pressend on the Twister game. Which makes this an interactive Twister game. The controlled light fixtures could also be a sound clip or a video sample. The coloured dots can really control anything that can be triggered with the MIDI protocol.
