Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Cellphone as Virtual Mouse, Keyboard

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the well-isn't-that-clever dept.

stab writes "Check this out! High Energy Magic have announced a public beta of software to let you use your camera-phone as a physical mouse by just pointing and clicking and rotating it in the air. Some very cool videos available: check out the volume control and flight booking ones in particular! The tags used are really robust - they did a wastebasket torture test for a bit of fun as well :-)"

29 of 186 comments (clear)

  1. Videos? by ryanwright · · Score: 5, Funny

    Some very cool videos available

    Heh. Not anymore, they aren't.

    --
    -Ryan, with the unoriginal sig
  2. Wow... by k4_pacific · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Like the Camera phone itself, this is a solution to a problem I never knew existed.

    --
    Unknown host pong.
    1. Re:Wow... by normal_guy · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Why fly when you can drive and sail? Because it's faster and more efficient. Why carry around a cameraphone when you can easily carry a brick phone and your Nikon 35mm? Because it's smaller and more efficient.

      --

      Linux: Free if your time is worthless.
    2. Re:Wow... by Total_Wimp · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Like the Camera phone itself, this is a solution to a problem I never knew existed.

      This kind of statement about the lack of a use for a camera phone tends to tell me something about the person that says it.

      1. They're not very creative. I use a camera-phone all the time for stuff I'd never use a camera for. For example, I take pictures of sales displays to compare the product on the internet when I get home and I take pictures of the sign that reminds me where I parked my car at the airport. Instant notes with no effort. I also have a cool game that lets me move around by moving my phone around. If you were more creative, you would have thought of a few more uses too.

      2. They're not very spontaneous. I take pictures of my friends, family and important events far more often than I ever would if I had to carry around a full-size camera all the time. If you were interested in this kind of spontaneity then I'm sure you would see the use of a camera phone.

      3. They're self-centered. People who don't want a camera phone personally, and seem to be dumbfounded by those that do, tend to be some of the most self-centered people I know. Lots of people have camera phones and lots of people like them. You may not desire or need one, but are you able to learn from and empathize with those that do? If you were interested in the thoughts and feelings of the people around you, you might have asked one of them why they bought a camera phone and realize that not everyone has the same needs and desires that you do.

      Believe it or not, I'm not trying to slam you here. I'm just reporting my personal observations of people who've talked like you have about these devices. Camera phones are interesting because they're very popular, but there's a significant backlash. That backlash crowd, in my opinion, is really more alike than most people realize.

      TW

  3. Here's an idea: by magefile · · Score: 4, Interesting

    If the spot codes can hold a few bytes of info - wave your cell over a tattoo or a shirt someone's wearing to get their name/cellphone number ... um, never mind, that'd be a bad thing.

  4. I don't understand... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Why integrate a cell phone with all these add on features that aren't nearly as good as things devoted specifically to the task? Cameras on cell phones are horrible compared to a decent digital camera, cell phone games are also quite lame (though, in Japan, you can get some nice looking versions of Dragonquest 1 and FF1), and now this... Why not just fix certain problems with the PHONING (i.e. bad signals) - the main capability for which they were developed, rather than adding a whole number of (useless) features?

    1. Re:I don't understand... by Khakionion · · Score: 5, Insightful
      Why not just fix certain problems with the PHONING (i.e. bad signals) - the main capability for which they were developed, rather than adding a whole number of (useless) features?
      Put yourself in Sprint's shoes. You could spend more on improving your network, thus upping your subscription costs, or you could have Samsung come out with a shitload of useless PCS Vision features. Both sell phones, but there's less risk for Sprint, since Samsung's doing the majority of the R&D.
      --
      OMG! Wau!
    2. Re:I don't understand... by Diaspar · · Score: 4, Interesting


      Didn't Motorola CEO get kicked out because that's precisely what he was saying ("concentrate on quality that's obviously suffering right now, and not race for features")?

      I think in the current market there is always race for features. More, more more and more. Until some complaint gets too loud and bites the company in the ass. Then fixing it becomes a future as well ("Our dialer is now better than ever").

      I found it interesting how Microsoft acted back in the day. They bloated their software with features, many many features, to beat the feature list of the competitor. Well, so what that it crashed constantly, so what that it didn't do the job that well. (sarcasm). For some reason, it's still around...

    3. Re:I don't understand... by Diaspar · · Score: 3, Insightful


      I think the issue here is that the people *assume* that the phone just works. Quality of service is usually attributed to the provider.

      Now that we got that out of the way, once people take reliability for granted they look at optional things, such as camera, organizer, phone book, etc.. nothing wrong with it, just how the mentality works.

  5. How quickly is this all done? by Fiz+Ocelot · · Score: 3, Insightful
    So how fast is it? From what it sounds like in the description: A bar code like "spot code" is on an object. Your phone reads it with the camera, communicates this to a nearby pc via bluetooth, which then somehow runs code on the phone.

    Sorry but first off, I don't want a camera phone. Second, Will this all run within my 2 second attention span? Most likely just targeted ads anyways. Not to mention what this would do to the phone's battery life.

    1. Re:How quickly is this all done? by stab · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Sorry but first off, I don't want a camera phone

      You're probably posting from the US. In Europe, it's almost impossible to buy a cellphone without a camera these days. You're correct in that I dont particularly want to take pictures with the crappy camera - so why not use it for something useful?

      Will this all run within my 2 second attention span?

      Pretty much ... the decoding happens in real-time (you see the camera viewfinder, and it highlights tags). Once the main slashdotting dies down, the videos hopefully explain it a bit better.

      Not to mention what this would do to the phone's battery life.

      Actually, it's not too bad ... I was demonstrating this stuff at a research demo day recently, and we ran a normal Nokia 3650 for a good 8 hours without seriously killing the batteries - that the camera and bluetooth active at the same time.

  6. Mirror for some of the videos by stab · · Score: 5, Informative

    Since the main site is predictably a bit bogged down, there is also a page at the University of Cambridge Systems Research Group detailing the research side of things. It also has some cool videos :-)

  7. New Policy by bogie · · Score: 3, Interesting

    If a site is unreachable within the first 10 posts the story gets yanked. Delete it like it never happened. Seriously, how the hell are we supposed to have a discussion about something we can't even read about?

    --
    If you wanna get rich, you know that payback is a bitch
    1. Re:New Policy by SwornPacifist · · Score: 5, Funny

      how the hell are we supposed to have a discussion about something we can't even read about?

      Since when has reading the article been a requirement to post authoritatively on Slashdot about it?

  8. Google Cache by jm92956n · · Score: 3, Informative

    Yes, that's the way I like to be clicked.

    --
    An effective signature identifies a particular user amongst a base of thousands.
  9. Gyroscopic mouse technology - patented by networkGhettoWhore · · Score: 5, Interesting

    What wasn't reported though is that the company Gyration already has patent pending on gyroscopic mouse technology. Gyration had already released an open letter last week addressing this when the cell phone mouse was first announced.

    --
    Natural Selection: self-destruction of the poor and lazy
  10. new use for this... by ferrocene · · Score: 4, Funny

    Eliminate beer Goggles! Picture the scene: you're at a bar, gettin' close to closing time. The chick you've been talking to is lookin' pretty good, but all your friend's have abandoned you.

    Whip out the phone, take a pic of the broad. Phone flashes green if she's good, Red if she's not.

    That would have saved me uh...i mean...yeah...

    --
    Most folk'll never lose a toe, and then again some folk'll...
    1. Re:new use for this... by droid_rage · · Score: 4, Funny

      Come to think of it... The only thing I've ever used my cameraphone for is to get a pic of the girl whose number I just got, to decide if I'm going to call her or not once I sober up.

  11. Re:ideas by gandalphthegreen · · Score: 3, Informative
    flashlight
    You apparently haven't seen this.
  12. What I really miss in cell phones... by jorlando · · Score: 4, Funny


    a multimeter...

    lots of times I needed a damn multimeter and I looket to the cell phone and imagined it could have a pair of probes...

    at least a AC/DC voltmeter up to 300V...

  13. Slashvertisement? by Quixote · · Score: 3, Informative
    Submitter: Stab, a.k.a. Anil Madhavapeddy
    Story is about HighEnergyMagic, for which WHOIS tells me:
    Administrative Contact:
    Madhavapeddy, Anil anil@recoil.org
    100 Carnbrae Avenue
    Belfast, Northern Ireland BT8 6NH
    UK
    +44 7771640674
    Story is mirrored at University of Cambridge Systems Research Group, where we find that the page is "© 2004 Anil Madhavapeddy".

    Seriously, shouldn't the submitter put some sort of a disclaimer somewhere? Or failing which, at least pay Slashdot to run these "ads", dammit! :)

    1. Re:Slashvertisement? by stab · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Give me a break ... where do the disclaimers stop? I mean, the software's being given away for free for non-commercial use, and I think it's of interest to other techies. Notice I didn't submit anonymously.

      And don't start spouting "open-source this, open-source that" to me ... I do my bit there as well. But noone cares about that stuff, so why bother talking about it instead of stuff I think is fun?

    2. Re:Slashvertisement? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I believe you could avoid any accusations of dishonesty by just writing your blurbs to say "Check this out! My company...etc. etc.". People do that often and it's not a problem if the tech is cool enough (and this tech is cool). People get annoyed when you write the blurb as though you're just a third party bystander who found this out there. Otherwise it smells like astroturfing. This tech is cool enough to stand on its own, why mess around with marketing stuff that will give geeks pause?

  14. Re:and the need for this is...? by Rick.C · · Score: 5, Funny
    But this trend of incorporating everything into one device is annoying.

    That's the same line the Mormons use to justify polygamy.

    --
    You were 80% angel, 10% demon. The rest was hard to explain. - Over The Rhine
    "Math in a song is good."-Linford
  15. They can't be doin too well by foniksonik · · Score: 3, Funny


    They've already put their domain up for sale!

    --
    A fool throws a stone into a well and a thousand sages can not remove it.
  16. I've been doing this for a year now by jgarland79 · · Score: 3, Informative

    Sailing Clicker does just this. I'm using a 12" Powerbook with built in bluetooth and a Sony Ericson T68i. I can controll the mouse movements with the joystick on the phone.

    --
    Microsoft Windows runs on stress and frustration.
  17. That's not how they make money... by dgies · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Carriers generally LOSE money on the phones. A phone with more whiz-bang features is a more expensive phone they have to subsidize. Carriers make money off of charges for using the network. The reason all the carriers are promoting picture phones is because they're hoping you decide to use your fancy new picture phone to send and recieve pictures over the cellular network, which they can charge extra for. That's the same reason they were heavily promoting downloadable ringtones and games last year. All carriers make money off of is your use of the network. The phones are just a nuisance from a carrier's point of view.

  18. Re:SSH on Symbian OS by electrichamster · · Score: 3, Interesting

    You can get both a dyndns client and a webserver for the sony ericsson P800/P900, so there you go, all bases covered :)

  19. Other 2d barcodes could rapidly outpace this by jhsiao · · Score: 3, Interesting
    It appears that Spotcode supports only 42 bits. Obviously, this is to accomodate the low processing power and camera quality of most camera phones on the market. At only 42 bits, the spotcode can't support any meaningful alphanumeric. But as a numeric value, there are enough unique patterns (over 4 trillion) to support almost 700 spotcodes for every human on the planet.

    But with cameras and processing power on cell phones getting more sophisticated, other 2d barcode like QR Code or semacode will eventually outpace this technology with their considerably larger data capacity (up to as many as 4000 alphanumeric characters). In fact, semacode is already demonstrated on Series 60 implementations.

    The submitter points to an application that uses spotcodes for remote control. In that implmentation, the spotcode translates to a number which the program then uses to send an instruction over Bluetooth.

    However, those wishing to skip the tedium of entering URLs from the keypad using Spotcodes should note that BangoSpot (using the Spotcode technology) almost certainly uses a middleware server which performs a Spotcode number-to-URL lookup. So someone will know that you're using the Spotcodes. It's sort of like the CueCat but the implementation _requires_ them to know what you're looking up in order to provide a WAP URL.

    It's an interesting approach, but I wonder how fast cellular carriers can adopt Spotcode-to-URL servers in their network before phone technology ends up leapfrogging and reading and entering sophisticated 2d barcode data directly into a phone browser.