O'WONDER::CLASSIC BiT BOPPER™

O'WONDER::SITE MAP::BiT BOPPER::CLASSIC

CLASSIC BiT BOPPER™ 1988
DIGITAL INTERACTIVE MULTIMEDIA ENTERTAINMENT SYSTEM

A unique machine that harnessed the power of THREE Acorn RISC processors, ingenious software and a state-of-the-art graphical user interface to produce audio synchronized 2 and 3 dimensional computer graphics and video sampling effects that were completely ahead of their time. The three small screens below the main Vision Control monitor are full color flat panel LCD displays for monitoring the twin video inputs and the BiT BOPPER main video output.

The VISION CONTROL user interface

1988: The mouse driven Vision Control interface appears on a 14 inch color monitor and is used to control the complete system. The top half of the 'panel' includes an easy to use vision sequencer and other controls. The lower half of the vision control interface is madeup of a series of feature specific 'softpanels' laid end to end. Using the mouse to drag the scroll bar (visible just above the black message display in the center of the screen) the operator slides the softpanels left and right to locate the desired controls. The above image shows the softpanel used to control BiT BOPPER's sound driven VideoGobo(tm)* effects.

Almost 20 years later (2007), this concept of sliding panels is only now being introduced by others in the technology industry.

*VideoGobos were known as RasterLights when the above screenshot was taken.

Live at LE PALLAIS

BiT BOPPER at the heart of the groove during the 1990 DMC (Disco Mix Championships) at the Hammersmith Pallais, London, England. The images appear on a huge 50 screen video wall providing a spectacular music synchronized backdrop to the stage. BiT BOPPER's revolutionary live video sampling allowed scenes from the event (such as DJ's mixing with their turntables) to be sampled live and then played back or Video Scratched INSTANTLY or even 'Video Bopped' in synchronization with the DJ's playlist.

Photo Ref: 149-6

The Classic BiT BOPPER on BBC TV's Tomorrow's World

Tommorow's World

May 1990: The Classic BiT BOPPER(tm) on BBC Television's "Tomorrow's World" show. The image shows Tomorrow's World presenter Kate Bellingham operating the BiT BOPPER as it displays spectacular music animated dual-layer computer graphics on a projection video wall.
17 million viewers watch Tomorrow's World each week, where the latest advances in science and technology are featured. The BiT BOPPER was the lead story, and the show focused on how BiT BOPPER's ground-breaking technology would be used as the lighting medium of the future for music and dance venues. In particular, the unique audio animated graphics and video, including the entertaining "Video Bopping(tm)" feature where live video is sampled in real-time, and then re-played using an inputted audio signal. Today, with our somewhat more affordable and compact BiT BOPPER systems being installed in music and dance venues world-wide, the vision is now being realized.

PRESS COVERAGE

See BiT BOPPER Technology page.

SPECIFICATION

DESCRIPTION
Digital Interactive Multimedia Entertainment System for the music industry, in particular live music performances, nightclubs and music video production.

ORIGINAL PLATFORM
3 Acorn Archimedes RISC Computers and O'WONDER's proprietory hardware

SUBSEQUENT PLATFORM(S)
Atari / C-Lab Falcon

CONCEPTION
1979

LAUNCH DATE
1988, England (Rental market only.)