Sponsors
Sponsors

Sponsor
Sponsor
Sponsor

Entries in shapes (2)

Horizons - an Audio/Visual Landscape for iPad

Horizons is described as an 'interactive sound toy' for your iPad (and other iOS devices) combining mostly ethereal sounds with highly configurable shapes in a 3D space. It is 'an exploration of sound and colour' according to the app store description.

Playing with the shape and editing it is quite engrossing, and the audio feedback when using the buttons is quite satisfying but you may want to turn the sound down a bit as the audio loops can be a tad monotonous. A quick press of the randomise button changes both the sound and the colours being used though so it is fairly easy to mix things up and keep them interesting.

As well as being able to stretch and shrink the shape using multi-touch, it can be affected by movement of the device, but your shape will float in the environment space independently too, a bit like a large whale gently moving through the water.  We found it can be quite a restful experience using Horizons.

We think this may well be good fun for children learning about geometric shapes and 3D vectors, manipulating the shape in real time and seeing the effect of adding and subtracting points, or just as a simple distraction to play with.

It is also useful for creating wallpapers with the built-in screenshot feature, although we found the images captured with the app itself to be a bit pixelated. We actually got smoother looking results using the device's own screenshot feature (pressing the Home key and Power button at the same time).

Overall, it is a good, fun, app that provides an interesting experiment in interactively blending audio and visuals, and we are looking forward to the Mac version which is coming soon according to the site.

If you like what you see in the video Horizons is a Universal app and you will find it in the app store now for $1.19 (59p).

A Picturesque iPad app

Picturesque by Kelibo LLC looks like a fun app for kids to get creative on the iPad but also learn about perspective in art, with a little bit of education on the alphabet thrown in.

Combined with fun music and lots of sounds that will appeal to young children it looks like a nice way to play with the kids and share their creations either via e-mail or by saving into your iPad's Photos app.

It does seem to be a little bit too animated at times, with some of the animations being reminiscent of PowerPoint's animation effects, but on the whole, for $1.99 (£1.19), Picturesque looks like a good way to get the kids involved creatively with the iPad and keep them entertained for at least a while.

If you are a Graphic Designer or Sound Artist yourself, Kelibo are looking for people like you to get involved with the app's development. Check the link for more info.