This needs to be seriously checked out...

[Darren]

What an instrument this is:

[youtube][/youtube]

[Gustavo]

Looks very coool!

[Marlowes]

Ultra-cool. And British?

[Darren]

LOL!!! Don't be so surprised - Mr Johnny Ive is also British...

[Mr_-G-]

Wow, I want one, yet I fear that it will cost an arm and a leg.
Somewhat similar to the Continuum board http://www.hakenaudio.com/Continuum/
There is also a BBC interview on this, but I am not completely sure this is "a first" as the principle is very similar to the Continuum. The Ondes Martenot also has pitch control in the keys (and also ridiculous price if you want one), although probably not timbre control.

I wonder what is their intended target market. Probably few from the classic crowd will even think of getting one, so probably and sadly will end up being more of a curiosity for electronic musicians.

Would it be easy to play? How long would an instrument like that last? Does the surface require constant calibrating?
Maybe it has its own sound generator, as the pitch bending must be polyphonic?

Does anybody think that the video looks overdubbed? In the last bit, the left hand side does not play but the music keeps playing

[Darren]

I watched it twice and came to the conclusion that it is layered. The first few seconds of the video show the bass line being laid down but the rest of it is the chord/lead work.

Agreed - it will probably be very pricey! The continuum doesn't look quite as tactile to me but certainly a similar concept.

Like you I wonder about how such an instrument will wear. It's still very cool though