DJ style karaoke?

[efinque]

Sup DJF,

I've written about this concept before on this forum. Anyway, here's how it goes..

Basically you'd need a (preferably big) screen/television, a laptop/computer running Traktor with TouchOSC MIDI Bridge, a smartphone/tablet running TouchOSC and a WIFI. Now, the laptop/computer hosts the DJ software and the music, the smartphone/tablet is used as a controller via WIFI (TouchOSC and MIDI Bridge are courtesy of hexler.net)

The laptop video output would be then projected on the screen and people would mix 2 songs after another and then give the controller to the next "player" or DJ, like in karaoke. (edit : or b2b)

Now, there are a few problems.. mostly with the batteries running out, the laptop/WIFI could crash etc and the controller could be subject to all sorts of random violence. We've actually tested this on a venue and it works to some extent. Anyway, the reason I'm writing this here is because I fail to see any real commercial potential in this concept although now that I said it someone will probably go and laugh his way to the bank but oh well..

Perhaps it makes a perfect backstage/pre-party game for DJ nerds (seeing that it requires a bit of DJ knowhow and digital DJing knowledge)..

Any other thoughts?

EDIT : I didn't consider the option of using PFL.. I guess it could be worked around with wireless headphones though.

EDIT 2 : and as a pre-party game it could be used to promote software such as Traktor... like Tupperware parties.

EDIT 3 : as far as compatibility goes I've tested it with iOS and Android using Traktor 2.5.1 on OS X 10.5.8

EDIT 4 : I think you could also develop a score system for it..

EDIT 5 : as for everyone getting their favourite songs played in theory it'd be possible to set up a FTP server and upload files to it with smartphones.. only good for a trusted circle, I reckon it'd have to be packed neatly in a single app to be appealing for customers

EDIT 6 : and running a server like this in public would be borderline illegal... write-only is an option, file type restriction to .mp3 etc would be a bonus but I haven't figured out how to do it in Filezilla. It ought to be doable though, I've been doing some tests with a smartphone and Filezilla Server for this purpose but couldn't establish a connection with a FTP client or browser for some strange reason. Sort of weird, modern adaptation of dance music orientated BBS I think

EDIT (not piaf) : got the FTP server up in OS X and tested it with AndFTP and Windows command line.. few minor things like the directory listing showing the whole HD etc but works ok I guess for home/private use. Among other things I was thinking if I was to wrap it in a user-end client was a SSH chatroom/IRC (and a telnet MUD client for novelty) although I have no prior experience in making an Android app.. I made one for iOS some years ago

EDIT 8 : I also read about personal area networks but I have no idea how to setup one and I'm not sure whether TouchOSC supports it... in any case, however, the file upload "feature" poses a medium- to high-level security risk (SFTP or not) so if you plan on setting one up over WLAN/WIFI etc then do so at your own risk. As for other things I was thinking cron or a similar script to periodically remove or compress/archive the files, and something to automatically move them to the Traktor (ie. Preparation) folder

EDIT 9 : for the other stuff; the SSH chat I couldn't get to work, same for the IRC server. As for the MUD server, well, one called simpleMUD written in Python ran ok on OS X and I could telnet to it with Terminal as well as with an Android phone using a telnet emulator but the source code was buggy or something and I couldn't make it past login.. but stuff like this is possible to implement like the chatroom which would be nice imo, however dealing with SQL databases etc isn't my cup of tea (although Filezilla already uses SQL to handle accounts, there's no suitable OS X port for the server) but the core functionality is there