Orba anatomy: a body that’s stronger than metal yet sensitive to musical gestures

Orba anatomy: a body that’s stronger than metal yet sensitive to musical gestures

We needed Orba to be both strong and sensitive, and our search for materials led us to a remarkable new class of compounds. We chose a glass-infused plastic called Ixef PARA for Orba’s top housing. The Ixef PARA polymer, which is made by the 150-year-old Belgian supplier Solvay, is both durable over time and pleasant to touch. It is also ideally suited to encase Orba’s capacitive-touch sensors, which enable Orba’s expressive musical microgestures like Vibrato, Press, and Radiate.

Because Orba is the first musical instrument to use this material in conjunction with capacitive-touch, Solvay ran a special case study. You can read their post and download the case study to learn more.

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