World Monitor Magazine, # 1, 2017 | Page 65

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Roli Blocks Lightpad
LG ' s OLED W7 Television
Roli , the company behind the multitouch Seaboard Rise keyboard , is back with a new and equally intriguing instrument . The Blocks Lightpad is a modular synth system that snaps together via magnets into a variety of configurations . But where it really shines is in its responsive pressure-sensitive controls , which translate the nuances of human touch into music in ways a knob never could .
Lego Boost Tanvas
The ambition du jour in the perennial arms race between television manufacturers is making TVs as thin as possible . Case in point : LG ’ s OLED W7 . The company stuck the TV ’ s guts inside an external sound bar , which lets the 65-inch , 18-pound , 3.85-millimeter-deep display rest against the wall like a poster . Its svelte form factor will make it a seamless centerpiece to any living room , but it ’ s also easy to envision unobtrusive displays like this one migrating to walls outside the home .
The major shortcoming of a touchscreen is that it ’ s a screen — flat , glassy , cold . Tanvas is a new technology that imbues displays with haptics to simulate how the things you see on screen feel in the real world . As Tanvas explains it , all the magic happens between your fingers and the screen . Using electrostatic fields to create friction , the company can simulate different textures like choppy , grainy , fine , and wavy , transforming a touchscreen from something you simply touch into something you can actually feel .
We love Lego . And for good reason . Since its inception in 1932 , the Danish company has built its reputation on making a toy so simple , so intuitive , that anyone can use it . With its new Boost kit , Lego builds on that legacy by giving its toys a little more functionality . Boost lets kids program their creations to walk , roll , flash , and make noise via an app that uses a drag and drop coding language . In a sea of teach-kids-to-code toys , Boost has the biggest advantage of all : It ’ s actually really fun to play with . supported by EUROBAK
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