Your body is an input device. TDInput streams every sensor on your Apple Watch AND iPhone directly into TouchDesigner as live CHOP channels — no custom hardware, no complex setup.
Tilt your wrist to rotate geometry. Let your heartbeat drive particle systems. Scroll the Digital Crown to scrub a timeline. Wave your phone to control camera angles. TDInput turns natural body movement into creative control.
APPLE WATCH SENSORS
• Wrist Orientation — pitch, roll, and yaw at 50Hz
• Acceleration — raw hand movement with gravity removed
• Gravity Vector — which way is down relative to the watch
• Rotation Rate — angular velocity on each axis
• Heart Rate — live BPM via workout session
• Digital Crown — precise tactile scroll input
iPHONE SENSORS
• Device Motion — full 6-axis orientation and acceleration at 50Hz
• Magnetometer — calibrated compass heading on three axes
• Barometric Altitude — relative elevation changes and atmospheric pressure
• Battery Level — use charge state as a slow-changing creative input
HOW IT WORKS
1. Open TDInput on your iPhone and enter your Mac's IP address.
2. In TouchDesigner, drop in an OSC In CHOP set to port 9000.
3. Open TDInput on your Apple Watch and tap Start.
4. Toggle iPhone Sensors on for phone data.
5. 30+ channels appear instantly in TD.
No pairing codes, no Bluetooth dongles, no plugins. Standard OSC over your local Wi-Fi — the same protocol TD already speaks.
BUILT FOR
• TouchDesigner artists and creative coders
• Live performance and interactive installations
• VJs and real-time visual performers
• Educators teaching sensor-driven art
• Anyone exploring embodied interaction
FULL OSC ADDRESS MAP
Watch: /watch/motion/pitch,roll,yaw • /watch/accel/x,y,z • /watch/gravity/x,y,z • /watch/rotation/x,y,z • /watch/heart/bpm • /watch/crown/delta
Phone: /phone/motion/pitch,roll,yaw • /phone/accel/x,y,z • /phone/gravity/x,y,z • /phone/rotation/x,y,z • /phone/magnetic/x,y,z • /phone/altitude/relative,pressure • /phone/battery/level
All values arrive as standard OSC floats — wire them into selectCHOP, filterCHOP, and mathCHOP like any other channel.
PERFORMANCE
50Hz motion updates give smooth, responsive control. Watch battery lasts approximately 4-5 hours of continuous streaming. The app uses a HealthKit workout session to keep sensors active.
Questions or feature requests? We'd love to hear from you.
