Rhodri Marsden on three of the latest must-have gizmos currently putting the prog in progress…

GQT REEL-TO-REEL

Regular readers will have sensed my antipathy towards overlyexpensive devices that promise audio perfection, but sometimes people build things so magnificent you can’t help admiring them. Kostas Metaxas describes his GQT reel-to-reel player as a “kinetic art object” which “happens” to play and record analogue tape. He also says this format is by far the best way of recording live music. “This is a fact not open for discussion,” he adds. I’d best shut up.

NOD BANG

Analyst and engineer Andrew Lee had an idea back in October. “I’m planning to use this as an exercise,” he wrote on his blog, “to apply the ideas and concepts from my interaction and physical computing classes. I’m not sure if this is really possible.” Two months later, he proved it was in the form of a drum machine where the tempo is dictated by the nod of the musician’s head. Given our propensity to nod vigorously in time to music, it feels like a magnificent idea – although if you used it on stage you’d be hoping not to have a sneezing fit.

SAMSUNG S-RAY

For those who like personal audio but resent headphones, the tech industry has tried various ways to cater for you, such as conductive systems that transmit sound through your skull. Samsung just showcased this directional speaker system at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, which sits around your neck and plays the audio upwards. The sound, they say, is “delivered to the desired area while preserving silence around it.” Sadly it seems to be only at the conceptual

stage but stay tuned.