Bare Conductive’s Touch Board. (via kickstarter)
Companies have been developing and releasing devices that allow users to use just about any surface as a touch interface. Whether it’s through capacitive, resistive, optical, wave or force implementation, the touch interface is here to stay. Companies, hobbyists and start-ups are continually looking to make touch-based devices that function for different purposes and in this case, primarily (but not necessarily) as a sensor. Bare Conductive designed their Touch Board for the DIY crowd for projects that allow most any surface to be turned into an interactive sensor. Their device is actually an Arduino Leonardo board that allows users to connect just about any shield to the devices for a myriad of project possibilities. Since the board is Arduino-based, users can also program it using their code of choice. For example, users could add a relay shield along with some conductive paint and make a touch-sensitive light switch or use a remote-based shield along with conductive paint to send notification sounds (much like a door-bell) or chimes to let them know you’re there. The board features a Freescale touch sensor built-in to the board along with 12 electrodes that allow users to connect to anything conductive and turn it into a touch-based sensor. The board also features a built-in MP3 player that allows users to create instruments using conductive paint. Simply program a sound(s) for the electrode the painted instrument is connected to. To get the Touch Board to function, users will need their own LiPO battery for power, an SD card for storage and an external speaker for sound. Bare Conductive is currently crowd funding their Touch Board on Kickstarter and have surpassed their goal of $24,000 with 6 days left to go. Those looking to get their hands on one for new or augmented projects can pledge $56 or more.
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