Hacking The Shakes Into Your Apple #
Within the past week, a couple fellows around the web have started scripting the accelerometer couched in Apple PowerBook hard drives, giving the effect of a three-dimensional motion sensor. The amstracker commandline is really all you need to get started, as evidenced by this Python script, which controls iTunes by either “bumping” the laptop to advance a track or by rocking the laptop to move around the playlist.
Joey DeVilla has further challenged the scripting world to turn the PowerBook into an Etch-A-Sketch. So you can reboot your laptop by evoking the familiar Flip-N-Pull-A-Seizure manual restart of the kiddie canvas.
Soon, coding will be an elaborate game of Bop-It!
Alex
I wonder if it’s accurate enough to measure “distance traveled”—by integrating acceleration we get velocity, integrating again, we get distance.
On the other hand, minor oscillations will add up to large distances…
bogbog
Path integration is not practical for longer distances. Errors accumulate quickly and the inaccurary is way too high. This is not as much a technological issue as a fundamental one. No matter how good your sensors are, errors will grow quickly when you integrate twice.
BTW why is this in cult?????
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