Quadrant is a human-computer interface based on an array of distance sensors. The device consists of 4 time-of-flight sensors and is specifically designed to detect the position, velocity, and orientation of the user’s hand in free space. On-board signal processing is used to recognize gestures and other events, and these values can be mapped to a variety of musical parameters in software as well as hardware synthesizers. Quadrant has USB, CV, and hardware-MIDI outputs, so you can connect it to your computer, your analog synthesizer, or any other compatible equipment.

Quadrant Demo

Check out these demos of how Quadrant can be used to send CV and MIDI signals for dynamic gestural control.

Produce Interactive Art, Music, and More

Quadrant is great for creating generative computer music, controlling your DAW, interacting with DJ software, and playing with Max MSP and Pure Data. Directly control your analog synths over CV or MIDI - no laptop required! Or think visually for unique VJ control, LED lighting, and video synthesizers. It’s even capable of gesture recognition: swipe left, swipe right, trigger events with beam crossings and more.

Quadrant is fully open source and Arduino compatible (official library here). We’ve wrapped all the low-level functionality and tight timing code into a simple API, so you can get started right away using Quadrant for whatever you imagine.

Features & Specifications

• 4 x VL53L0x time-of-flight distance sensors
• 22" detection range with 1 mm precision
• 43 Hz sample rate (all channels)
• RP2040 microcontroller
  • Dual-core for real-time signal processing
  • Micropython and Arduino compatible
• 4 x Control Voltage (CV) + gate outputs
  • 1/8" TRS connectors (left=CV, right=gate)
  • 0 to +5 V range
• Hardware MIDI input and output with 1/8" TRS connector
  • 1/8" TRS connectors (left=CV, right=gate)
  • MIDI IN -> MIDI THRU selectable in firmware (chain multiple Quadrants together!)
• USB serial interface
  • USB-C connector
• 4 x GPIO
  • 0.1" headers
• 2 x DIP switches
  • Select between 4 user-defined modes

Fully Open Source

We’re proud to have Quadrant certified open-source by the Open Source Hardware Association (OSHWA ID US002560! You can find the hardware, firmware, and application software on GitHub:

• Board Schematics and Layout
• Arduino Library
• Applications

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