PowerBook As A New Kind Of Human Interface Device

An anonymous reader writes "As covered earlier on Slashdot, Amit Singh had shown how to access and use the motion sensor feature in the late model PowerBooks for innovative things, which created quite a buzz in the Mac community. In an ingenius new article, Singh has taken the idea all the way and released software which lets you use a PowerBook with a motion sensor as a general purpose input device which works with existing apps. IMHO the coolest use of this is for playing games: be sure to check out the video footage in the article. For instance, in a car racing game, you steer by tilting the PowerBook left and right, go faster by tilting it forward, brake by tilting it backwards! You can also scroll in apps. Google Map scrolling with my PowerBook feels like flying in an aiprlane over the terrain. I must say you have to try this in real life to appreciate the experience ... go to the Apple store or something if you don't have the hardware ;-) Before this my girlfriend (who uses a Dell notebook) has never called anything computer related "jawdropping"! Wouldn't it be nice to have a gaming motion sensor be standard issue in all future laptops?"

Fake Article

[clinko]

This article is fake. Note the following lie in bold:

"Before this my girlfriend (who uses a Dell notebook) has never called anything computer related "jawdropping"! "

New Interaction

[LittleGuernica]

This Porn Site is Powerbook Enabled ..yes, I can see a lot of new ways of interaction

and Apples new Powerbook tagline:
"Shake it Like A Polaroid Picture"
or
"Do the Powerbook Shuffle"

Re:Tasty Asstreats

[dhbiker]

maybe DonkeyHote is an alien trying to communicate, but we just can't understand him/her/it? ;-P

Jawdropping?

[mypalmike]

Before this my girlfriend (who uses a Dell notebook) has never called anything computer related "jawdropping"!

Umm, actually, she was just yawning.

In other news...

[nganju]

daveschroeder discovered to be the username for Amit Singh at Slashdot.org

My favorite application for this would be

[Psykechan]

After (of course) parking the disk heads, I think that turning the laptop upside-down and giving it a good shaking should clear the screen.

I mean, wouldn't that just be common sense?

Motion sensor on a laptop?

[pg110404]

Does that mean if you tip it upside down and shake vigorously the imagaes on the screen disappear??

Re:New Interaction

[peculiarmethod]

well I guess.. but what I'd really like is to be able to delete everything on, say, photoshop or gimp by shaking it like an etch-a-sketcha. hehe

One benefit

[Shivetya]

is that most geeks would then have equal size arms.

nahh ..

[ciupman]

...anything that doesn't plug into the back of your neck just plain sucks!!

Obligatory Futurama reference

[ari_j]

Zapp Brannigan: Kif, clear my schedule.
Kif turns the Etch-a-Sketch upside-down and shakes it.

Re:Wouldn't it be nice to have a gaming motion sen

[FidelCatsro]

Yes with both you could bludgeon someone to death , however with the powerbook you could bludgeon in style whilst running OS X and with the sensor you would risk less HDD dammage whilst doing it

It really works!

[tgrigsby]

For instance, in a car racing game, you steer by tilting the PowerBook left and right, go faster by tilting it forward, brake by tilting it backwards! ...Wouldn't it be nice to have a gaming motion sensor be standard issue in all future laptops?"

I tried it with John Madden's NFL Football. I threw a Hail Mary pass; a perfect, aim-for-the-end-zone spiral. My Powerbook sailed out the window of my 10th floor San Francisco apartment and I haven't seen it since.

I wonder if the pass was complete?

Re:I've really gotta wonder....

[Daengbo]

Well, you've never seen me play pinball.

Re:YAWN

[tgrigsby]

Consider tilting your laptop all over the place on an airplane. I''m sure it would annoy your neighbors to no end.

Actually, tilting the laptop didn't annoy my neighbors nearly as much as the airplane sounds I made, or when I'd headbutt the guy sitting next to me when I'd tilt my head along with the laptop.

The stewardess took my laptop away half way through the trip. Something about homeland security...

Re:Motion sensor on a laptop?

[omegacentrix]

This is a common feature on all laptops assuming, of course, that you shake the laptop hard enough.

Last name is Singh?

[Anonymous Coward]

Well then...*takes deep breath*

KHAAAAN!!!

Ahem...

Better killing weapons available

[Reinout]

No, no, no. Wrong! You should use an old IBM clicketyclick keyboard for this! As you can run a truck over them (and have them still work), they've been a sysadmin's favourite way of getting rid of pesky users. "Do you see any weapon, police officer? There's only me and my keyb... eh computer!"

Re:now if the motion sensor worked with pr0n..

[greg1104]

Do you really want to be tilting a PowerBook around when you've only got one hand free?

feeble nerds

[l4m3z0r]

Don't get me wrong, this is a cool hack, but a 17" powerbook weighs over 3 kilograms.

God forbid us feeble nerds be subjected to the lifting of a small amount of weight.

Re:Why discredit an innovative idea?

[Ohreally_factor]

I think you've accidentally come to the wrong site. You must have been looking for grouchyoldman.com.

Re:I've really gotta wonder....

[peculiarmethod]

"Does this mean I can look forward to abnormal scrolling on flights, depending on the attitude of the aircraft?"

umm, a little thing called relativity will keep that from happening. You remain relative in position to the airplane, as does the laptop. Unless you are modding your motion sensor with a mercury switch.

Re:It really works!

[HawkingMattress]

Yep, you scored !
And btw thank you, my beloved anonymous powerbook thrower. It did hurt, but what a good surprise it was after the surgery when doc showed me what brought me at the hospital !
I haven't cleaned the blood and brain parts sticked on it yet so i can make that "bloody powerbook" joke , so funny !
Oh and those videos with horses are lots of fun but you should check out the women sections once in a while, dude.

Re:Except...

[KarmaMB84]

I don't understand how people sit them on their privates to begin with. I find it hard to type on a notebook while sitting up when the notebook is too close to my body. The back is almost on my kneecaps and the front doesn't come close to my privates. Maybe it's just because I have long legs...