Sep 17 2008
Shake it like a polaroid
It’s becoming more obvious. Accelerometers have got so cheap and useful that they’re properly changing the way people interact with computing machinery. This is exciting. The Wii is something totally new in computer gaming. The barriers to participation have been stripped away. To play Wii Tennis you don’t need to master the art of a backhand using a tiny one-thumb joystick and a selection of buttons. You just swing your arms.
The iPhone/iPod Touch interface is sensitive to orientation — flip the unit sideways and the screen reorients itself in the new perspective. The new iPods let you shake the device to change tracks — a nifty innovation that makes fabulous use of solid-state devices: you couldn’t do that if your player had a hard disk inside…
I recently saw a technology demonstration using the iPhone and video conferencing. Several people sat in proximity to a computer, and the computer would transfer the person on the other end of a video conference call onto the iPhone screen. You could then transfer that person from your iPhone to your neighbour’s by casting — like in fishing — so the imaginary video genie flew off the end of your device and into the other person’s. Magic, no?
I guess it must be a really exciting time to be working with these things in mainstream devices. What other motion-sensitive devices are available right now? And what do you think they’ll appear in next?
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