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Use Your Cellphone as a 3D Mouse

Posted by Zonk on from the remember-when-they-weighed-like-twenty-pounds dept.

Roland Piquepaille writes "In recent years, we've started to use our cellphones not only for placing calls or exchanging messages. Now, we take pictures, read our e-mails, listen to music or watch TV. But, according to New Scientist, UK researchers are going further with a prototype software that turns your cellphone into a 3-D mouse. The phone is connected to your computer via Bluetooth. And you control the image on the screen by rotating or moving your phone. As says one of the researchers, 'it feels like a much more natural way to interact and exchange data.' The technology might first be used in shopping malls to buy movie tickets or to interact with advertising displays."

5 of 77 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Minority Report by mattsgotredhair · · Score: 2, Informative

    Minority Report definitely used a technology closer to Apple's multi-touch or Microsoft's Surface. Both of those get rid an interface to interact with a screen and allow you to use your fingers.

  2. Almost four years ago by tepples · · Score: 4, Informative

    What has changed in the three years and eight months since this story?

  3. I kinda did this by gigne · · Score: 2, Informative

    I had a go at doing this a while ago using AR toolkit plus which uses AR Tags as a reference point to send the mouse data to the computer. I never really did get the camera filter working so I abandoned it. I did ask Daniel Wagner (the lead guy on artoolkit plus) for the DSVideoCE component source, which is a CE directshow filter, but he replied that it wasn't possible to release it. CE is a pain in the backside so I gave up. It worked pretty well from a video file I pre-recorded, so I reckon it would have worked well.

    Pretty much everything about artoolkit plus worked out of the box, and the bluetooth code to emulate a mouse was pretty simple. if someone wants to give something like this article a bash, I would start with something like this.

    My 2p

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  4. custom do-it-yourself 3D mouse pointers by wehe · · Score: 2, Informative

    If you can't wait for the 3D cellphone mouse. Here are some links to selfmade 3D mouse pointer devices. BTW: at least one of these guides has been on ./ already.

  5. Re:Minority Report by delvsional · · Score: 5, Informative

    Too late. It's already here. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0awjPUkBXOU&feature=related

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    Oh Crap, I'm an optimist.....