Bluetooth, Foot Pedals, and iPads

My business partner at Braintrust Digital, Paul Schmutzler, has written a good overview of a new accessory for musicians and others who perform live: AirTurn AT-104 hands-free page turner.

Paul’s a pianist, so the idea of a hands-free page turner is something he—or any other musician that needs to keep two hands on an instrument—would find beneficial.

Yet the idea of a hands-free page turner got me thinking beyond just music and towards live production. Let’s talk briefly about what a page-turner is, and then I’ll come back around to live production.

According to Paul’s blog post, the AT-104 is a two-part hardware system.

“The system enables you to move forward and backward in an electronic document one page at a time,” he wrote. “Part one is the USB transmitter, which is connected to a pair of pedals of your choice.  Part two is a simple USB dongle that acts as the receiver when connected to your computer.”

The unit works by connecting a USB transmitter to a typical foot pedal with a 1/4″ jack: AirTurn bundles in a pair of BOSS FS-5U pedals with its Pro package (which also includes the USB transmitter and dongle as well as the AirTurn software: MusicReader and MusicConverter software).

“The FS-5U pedals are second to none,” he said. “An attractive and rugged all-metal construction and rubberized bottom to prevent sliding make for an impressive product, and the sides of each pedal has a ‘tongue and groove’ design, enabling you to lock together an unlimited number of pedals.  The pedal mechanism gives a good, strong resistance.”

The reason for a pair of pedals? Just like a handheld remote control for Powerpoint, the AirTurn AT-104 hardware is sending page up and page down commands. Press the right one and the page advances; press the left one and the screen reverts to the previous page.

What screen? According to Paul, the AirTurn works with all the operating systems he tested, both Mac and Windows.

“I tested the AT-104 with my both my home piano and the one I play at church,” he said. “The USB receiver was plug and play on my MacBook Pro and in Windows XP.  I also opened up some Microsoft Word documents and PDF files to see how the pedals moved pages in different software.  These programs were able to understand the commands as well.”

For the Word documents, rather than clicking to the next page of text, it would scroll down a bit.

“In Word, it would not necessarily skip to the next whole page but would rather show the next screen of type wherever the bottom of the monitor had cut off the text,” he said.

The ability to flip through PDF pages, or to scroll down on a Word document,  got me thinking about the possibility of moving beyond page turns for music and into a teleprompter solution.

Since the AT-104 works with Mac or Windows laptops, it’s easy to think of teleprompter text—or even basic speaking notes—that would use the page turn solution. Think beyond this to presentations from a lectern, where the speaker wants to keep her hands free, and it’s also easy to see how this could work with Powerpoint.

The only limitations that I see for using the AirTurn AT-104 for a teleprompter are the need to connect to a computer and the timing differences of using a page turner versus the scroll wheel that many professional teleprompters use.

Paul does say, speaking of timing, that the use of an electronic page turning solution takes some getting used to.

“It’s a bit disconcerting to have the music instantly change pages when you’re used to naturally compensating for the delay and motion of a page turn,” he said, referring to its use in the two test cases. “I also found it a little confusing during certain measures trying to operate the piano pedals and tapping the BOSS pedal together.  After practicing for about fifteen minutes, though, I noticed improvement, so I’m sure it wouldn’t take long to re-train my technique.”

OK, so maybe the timing issue isn’t that big of a deal. What about the hardware issue?

Turns out that AirTurn is working on a Bluetooth version of the page turner. “AirTurn is developing a Bluetooth version of its hands free page turner that will be compatible with the iPad and other Bluetooth-equipped computers,” the company states on its website. “Expected availability Q4 2010.”

For those interested in seeing a demonstration of the Bluetooth version of the AirTurn, the company provides a  demonstration video of the prototype on its website. For those interested in keeping track of the progress of the Bluetooth version, AirTurn also provides a sign-up page.

It’s an interesting thought: a year from now, we might all be using iPad teleprompters. Now if we can just get a see-through iPad, so that it looks like a typical teleprompter, this might just be a new wave in live production.

Tim Siglin (tims [at] braintrustdigital.com) is chairman of Braintrust Digital, a digital media production company specializing in training, corporate communication, government, historical preservation, documentary, and business marketing and development. He is a contributing editor to EventDV and Streaming Media.