Imagine a whole new way to use your smartphone or tablet.
konashi is a physical computing toolkit for artists, designers and engineers.
Yukai Engineering Inc. is pleased to announced the development and distribution of konashi, a programmable physical computing toolkit that allows developers to wirelessly expand the I/O of a smartphone or tablet.
konashi was first demonstrated as “monaka” at Tokyo Maker Faire 2012, where it was available to early bird developers for a limited time.
Yukai Engineering Inc. was founded as a company specialising in robots, and now develops products which support the creations and comprehensively meet the desires of artists, designers and engineers. Yukai Engineering Inc. aims to continue to develop new products that support creative activities.
konashi Design Outline
If we think beyond the limitations of existing computers and their functions and search for new interactions between people and computers in everyday environments, we can create a new dimension of computing. This concept regarding physical computing was originally explored by Dan O’Sullivan of New York University.
When developing a physical computing interface, one must consider the software, hardware, design and a wide variety of other components. Because of this, a certain amount skill and experience is typically required.
To overcome this, “Gainer,” “Funnel” and “Arduino” have been developed as simplified physical computing toolkits. These small-scale computers take advantage of well-designed documentation and a development environment which anybody can easily understand. Modualised input and output features are easy to use, so are widely favoured among artists, designers and engineers as tools for realising their ideas of physical computing.
These days, the computers which exist in our everyday lives are not the “desktop” and “notebook” terminals of before, but rather smartphones and tablets. With that in mind, Yukai Engineering Inc. developed konashi, a physical computing toolkit for smartphones and tablets, complemented by well-designed documentation and development environments that anybody can take advantage of.
Features
- Wireless I/O module corresponding to iPhone/iPod/iPad;
- Development languages: Objective C, JavaScript;
- konashi’s libraries are available for iPhone, web and other development environments;
- Enrollment in the MFi Program is not required. konashi communicates with supported devices using Bluetooth® Low Energy.
Requirements
| Device | Model | OS Version |
| iPhone |
iPhone 4S iPhone 5 |
iOS 6 |
| iPad |
iPad mini iPad 4th generation (Nov 2012) iPad 3rd generation (Mar 2012) |
iOS 6 |
| iPod touch |
iPod touch 5th generation iPod touch 4th generation |
iOS 6 |
Specifications
| Function | Amount | Details |
| Digital I/O | 8 pins | |
| Analog I/O | 3 pins | Reference voltage: 1.35V |
| UART communication terminal | 1 port | |
| I2C communication terminal | 1 port | Shared with digital I/O |
| PWM output | 8 pins (max) | Shared with digital I/O |
Other details
| Board dimensions | 52.0mm × 33.0mm |
| Price | ¥9,980 (tax included) |
| Release date | Dec 2012 |
Corporate information
Yukai Engineering Inc.
President: Shunsuke Aoki
Employees: 6
Address: Nishida Building 1F, Shinjuku 1-31-8, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, Japan
Phone/FAX: +81 03-6380-4710
Email: contact@ux-xu.com
Website: http://www.ux-xu.com
Further information or enquiries
President: Shunsuke Aoki
Senior Researcher: Reo Matsumura
Phone/FAX: +81 03-6380-4710
Email: contact@ux-xu.com
Website: http://www.ux-xu.com