Inventory
Info
This note lists the software, hardware and applications available in the Spatial Computing Lab, together with the learning resources that support them. It starts with the fixed installation, which is the hardware the Lab Tools components are built for. After that come the equipment around it (alternative sensors, interfaces and capture devices) and the software used for content, mapping and sound.
Software
Software that runs in the lab. TouchDesigner runs the lab's own components (Lab Tools), and Max/MSP runs the Max-MSP ambisonic renderer.
| Category | Software |
|---|---|
| General | TouchDesigner, Max/MSP, Adobe Creative Cloud |
| Projection mapping | MadMapper |
| Game engines | Unreal Engine, Unity |
| Audio | Reaper |
| Lab infrastructure | Dante Via, Dante Virtual Soundcard and Dante Controller (audio network), NDI (video over the network), ICST Ambisonics externals for Max |
Hardware
Fixed installation
The room's own hardware, set up permanently.
| Subsystem | Hardware |
|---|---|
| Projection | three fixed walls (left, centre, right), a floor projection with a lower resolution than the walls, and a mobile fourth wall (not installed by default) |
| Spatial sound | 16 loudspeakers in a third-order ambisonic layout plus 1 subwoofer, on a Dante audio network at 48 kHz |
| Body tracking and cameras | 3 × Azure Kinect on drop rods below the ceiling grid |
| Computing | HP Z8 workstation (TouchDesigner); Intel NUC (Kinect host); Windows NUC (ambisonic renderer) |
| Network | local network (router) for OSC and NDI; Dante network for audio |
| Rigging | scaffold-pipe grid below the concrete ceiling, carrying sensors, elevated speakers and projectors |
Equipment
Tools you can use in the lab.
| Category | Hardware |
|---|---|
| Computing | NUC (bare-bone workstation), HP ZBook (laptop) |
| Microcontrollers | Raspberry Pi 3 and 4B, Arduino |
| Depth cameras | Microsoft Azure Kinect (three installed, see above), ZED 2i, OAK-D |
| Hand tracking | Leap Motion Controller |
| Cameras | RGB cameras, Insta360 (360° camera) |
| MIDI controllers | KORG nanoPAD, KORG nanoKONTROL, Intech Studio, Midi Fighter |
| Interfaces | Full HD touchscreens |
| Audio | RME Fireface UC (8-channel audio interface) |
| Network | router (local network) |
Applications
Small software, plug-ins and apps.
| Category | Application |
|---|---|
| Interfaces | TouchOSC |
| Tracking and data | ZIG SIM, ZIG SIM Pro, MediaPipe (in TouchDesigner) |
| 3D scanning | Polycam, Scaniverse |
| Audio | Sonic Pi |
Learning resources
External links for inspiration
- OLIB: TouchDesigner components
- Derivative: TouchDesigner download, tutorials and forum
- AllTouchDesigner: learning community
- YouTube channels: The Interactive & Immersive HQ, Bileam Tschepe, Matthew Ragan, Supermarket Sallad, Torin Blankensmith
Learning material (on the lab's SharePoint, for LUCA users)
- TD Fundamentals 100 and 200
- TouchDesigner POP examples and Learning About POPs
- The Interactive & Immersive HQ templates
- a TouchDesigner book and a beginner course
Snippet library (on the lab's SharePoint, for LUCA users)
A collection of small TouchDesigner examples and community components. It includes MediaPipe, multi-Kinect calibration and merging, OSC tools, UI layouts and utility patches such as counters, value mapping and camera fly-throughs.
Relations
- Lab Tools (core components, which run on this hardware)
- Azure Kinect sensors, Azure Kinect cameras, Kinect host (tracking hardware)
- Wall projection, Floor projection (projection hardware)
- Ambisonics sound control, Max-MSP ambisonic renderer (sound hardware)
- Lab model (where everything is in the room; 3D scanning apps can capture it)