Coffeepal, thanks for the review. The only significant (measurable) latency in the Altura system would be the speed of sound in air. The sensors send out a chirp and listen for an echo off your hand. The further out you play, the longer the distance and thus the longer the latency. Also, speed of sound in air changes with temperature and pressure. The Altura will be a little more responsive in New Hampshire in February and a little more sluggish in Baton Rouge in August.
Another type of latency occurs when you quickly pull your hand out of the sensor beam. If the sensor hears no echo after a timeout, it sends a note-off message. You can perceive this delay if you listen for it.
A third phenomenon involves our use of “bins.” Please watch the Altura deep-dive video on our YouTube channel for a detailed explanation. In short, to improve stability the software tries to create a zone, or bin, around your hand once it has decided what note you are trying to play. Nudging your hand to the next adjacent note then takes a delicate “touch” and some practice. You may percieve what seems like latency, but actually the software conditions for sending a new note simply haven’t been met yet. Once the conditions are met, the note sounds instantly.
Last, the “articulation” value can be adjusted to fine tune sensitivity. See the reference manual for details. Again, this does not add or reduce latency per se; it makes the software more or less willing to send new note messages. At low values, the device becomes extremely responsive — which means more unintended notes. At high values, it takes its time to decide where your hand is, averaging sensor readings and discarding data fluctuations. The result is much more stable performance, but the device becomes less responsive to small movements of your hand.