The OSC (Open Sound Control) library supports communication with OSC enabled devices (e.g., smartphones, tablets, other computers, etc.).

OSC devices communicate via the Internet, so they do not have to be connected via cable.  They could be anywhere – in the same room, in different buildings, or across the globe.

OSC Messages

OSC messages consist of an address and optional arguments, e.g., “/oscillator/4/frequency 440.0”:

• Address patterns look like a URL, e.g., “/oscillator/4/frequency”, “/button/1”, “slider/3”, etc.  Any address is possible, as long as both OSC input and output devices use the same values.  You can create your own, or use what a particular OSC device sends, e.g., TouchOSC.
• Arguments may be integers, floats, strings, and booleans.  OSC messages may include an arbitrary number of arguments (zero or more).

Receiving and Sending OSC Messages

To use the OSC library, you need following in your program:

from osc import *

The OSC library provides two types of objects, OscIn objects and OscOut objects:

• OscIn objects receive incoming OSC messages from OSC devices (e.g., an OSC-enabled smartphone, or tablet).
• OscOut objects send OSC messages to devices (e.g., computers) that listen for incoming OSC events.

You could use a collection of OscIn and OscOut objects to synchronize (or share data between) two different programs on the same computer, or several computers used in an installation.