Competitive Intelligence

Hewlett-Packard's Prototype DJammer: A Potentially Revolutionary New Musical "Instrument"

"Invent" - HP's slogan, seems to be ringing true for the first time in the post-Fiorina era, after Wired posted an article about the new DJammer, which the company is calling potentially as significant to the production of modern music as the first electric guitar was to rock-n-roll:

HP's DJammer is a prototype handheld gadget DJs can use to mimic the sound of scratching vinyl simply by moving the device around. So, if the operator makes a scratching motion in the air, arrays of internal motion sensors translate movement into music, and the DJammer "scratches" the music as though the DJ were manipulating a record.

Linked to a digital music library, the device can also mix tracks. It finds the entry and end points for tracks, and can cycle through a song collection. And it is wireless, so a DJ can control the music from anywhere in a room.

"The DJammer is the next-generation electric guitar," said Mark Smith, an HP researcher who co-invented the device. "It's the sort of thing where people will be able to become very creative."

The DJammer was created by HP research and development scientist Mat Hans, who began the project in 2002 with New York's Scratch DJ Academy, a school for DJs.

Hans wanted to develop a device that would let digital DJs mix their music just like vinyl DJs do, so he recruited Gavin O'Connor (aka DJ Gawk1) and came up with a wireless handheld controller that could be networked.

"We hooked up with O'Connor, and he showed us how professional DJs interact with turntables and music," said Smith, who also invented the technology behind the optical mouse. "This got us looking at how to match the expectation of the DJ."

O'Connor has demonstrated the device twice in public: at last summer's HP-sponsored MTV Video Music Awards and at the CES show in January.

O'Connor's setup is based on conventional twin decks for vinyl. The DJammer connects to a third line in on the mixing desk and plugs into a Linux-powered control brick that holds the tunes and drives the mixer.

"You are able to control music by air-scratching (and) jumping to different parts of the song ... using sensors built into the device," said the handheld's software designer, April Slayden.

Reaction at the MTV event was immediate, Slayden said. "I was approached by big-name DJs from all over the country who wanted one."

The DJammer's motion sensitivity relies on a 3-D accelerometer that controls the music when the operator shakes the device. It's based on the same technology used in notebooks to raise the head off a hard drive if it's dropped.

Keep it up, HP - as hip-hop goes digital that spirit of garage innovation just might help re-Invent HP in time for a comeback tour.

- Arik