Oscilloscopes are pretty amazing tools. These lab instruments allow their users to visualize changes in an electric signal (measured in volts) as that signal changes over time.
Oscilloscopes can be used to monitor the functioning of pretty much any electronic device, as well as other signals like sound so long as the signals are converted into voltage. Over the years, enterprising hackers have also found a bevy of creative uses for oscilloscopes outside the lab environment. This has resulted in a community of oscilloscope musicians and artists, but the creative repurposing of oscilloscopes truly began with video game designers, who have been using oscilloscopes to make crude video games since the 1950s.
As first reported by Hackaday, the most recent addition to this tradition comes from a game developer going by S-ol, who created a Breakout-style game for oscilloscopes called ‘Plonat Atek‘ earlier this year.
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