WHC 11: N73 on steroids
posted Apr 23rd 2007, 09:36 under bluetooth, processing, WHC
This eleventh WHC is a direct refinement of WHC 9 where I was using the 6DOF unit to navigate a simulated menu on the laptop. Using the laptop is very convenient for developing my code. The processing power is ample and I can use various libraries for UI and effects. One thing I realized while testing with the portable computer as a screen is that people don't look at the device while manipulating it. Much like playing with the Nintendo Wii. It's quite normal, you want to see what is going on as you move the portable device. It results in quite large movements or gesture, not really want I intended (and how sensors/parameters are set in the code).
My goal for this WHC was to put the visual feedback (screen) back into the users' hands. I had many options to accomplish this, but I went for the fastest and simplest one: use a real phone in my mock-up. Actually it's not the simplest one, as there are multiple layers to get this working. But the end result is there, things append on the phone as you manipulate it. And all wireless !
How it works:
- The 6DOF unit sends its raw data over Bluetooth to the Powerbook
- ImageExpo (a remote-control application for S60 phones) runs on the laptop and takes control of the phone over Bluetooth.
- My Processing application receives and analyses the incoming data for the 6DOF.
- When a pattern or gesture is recognize by the application, it generates keystrokes. These keystrokes are send via Java (Robot class) to the ImageExpo appliation.
- Keystrokes are send to the phone and finally things change on the phone's screen.
There is almost no perceivable delay or lag in this setup, which I find quite amazing. This solution turns out very sucessfull. It was much easier to patch all this together than having to write J2ME code that would need to run natively on the phone and provide the same end result.
