First Impressions
Someone recently posed the question to us, which was quickly answered with a narrative by our very own Warren Stringer that I think is worth sharing
Q: It is a bit unclear why a VJ would choose to run a graphical app directly on the iPad 2 vs controlling a laptop or tower with 10-100x GPU power?
A: In 1999, I started making the rounds with a 850Mhz Sharp Mebius and a tweaked Wacom 4x5. This is approximately the weight and form of two first generation iPads (when stacked together). It also had an integrated VGA port, which was a major innovation at the time.
The first run was at SigGraph. During an after-party the house VJ was struggling with setting up his SilliGraphics Onyx. Meanwhile I was flashing people in the audience with my portable. So, I was invited to plug in. It took just a couple minutes to sync up with the music. Wound up VJ-ing the whole night! Many gigs followed!
I don’t VJ anymore, because the party scene has transformed. It has become more democratic, which plays into what you can do with eyeCode. During my early Wacom days, I would put the tablet in someone hands and let them play. Their experience was magnified. Their friends were more engaged because the visuals were being performed by someone that they knew.
The iPad 2 enables anyone to be a VJ. My first rig cost > $5000 for the laptop and lighting. Now, with pervasive displays/projectors/built-in cameras, anyone can plug in a $500 iPad 2 and perform.
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