accelerometer on technabob...

A couple of young Czech whippersnappers have figured out how to use the iPhone’s accelerometer to control remote controlled cars.

They say, “Controlling is very easy with the iPhone 3G. It has five buttons, four of them you can use for traditional driving and when you press the last one, it unlocks the accelerometer control in the same way as…

Do you remember the oh-so-low-low-tech game Snake? Now it can be played on a monome with an accelerometer. You don’t even need a controller, since the tilting motion is all you need to control the snake’s movements.

Check out the video here, which demonstrates how intuitive the game becomes when all you have to do is tilt the board to…

The Jupiter Mouse is a sphere of wood fashioned into a mouse that you hold in the palm of your hand to control. You move the cursor by adjusting the tilt of the mouse.

The mouse is made out of “Chinese flowering ash from Japan’s rural Gunma prefecture.” Wow, that’s specific! It comes with a matching wooden stand. The click…

This nifty proof-of-concept demo shows off just one of the many gameplay possibilities for multi-player video games on Apple’s wonderphone.

iPong is a variant of Atari’s classic paddle ball game, with a multi-device, multi-player twist. Using some clever trickery, players can actually bounce their ball off of their iPhone’s screen onto the display of another phone. While the game can’t…

I came across this nifty concept for an electronic plaything earlier this week and thought I’d share it with you guys.

Steve Gilbertson’s interactive color cube uses a 3-axis accelerometer to detect movements and relays that information to a grid of brightly colored LEDs to create a portable light show in a box.

Each axis of the accelerometer (X, Y,…

This modern twist on the classic pedometer doesn’t just track your steps, it lets you keep tabs on the quality of the exercise you get during your day-to-day life.

Unlike meters that just count your steps, the Seiko SlimStick uses modern dual-axis accelerometers to track the magnitude of your movements, giving greater value to more intensive exercise. Just clip the…

Sure, there are lots of devices which are starting to embed motion sensors or touch screens to power new user interface paradigms. But this is the first time I’ve seen a motion-sensitive device which is designed to be operated entirely with one hand.

KEYnetik’s motion interface system uses multiple accelerometers to detect not just the direction of movement, but to…

Interactive artist Andrew Fentem created this cool electronic cube puzzle game loaded with colorful LEDs. The Fentix Cube is controlled by touch as well as through movement.

While it’s designed as a platform, capable of playing a number of different games and puzzles, the interactive plaything happens to do a great job digitally emulating the old Rubik’s Cube.
The digital…

A hacker claims to have written custom software which directly accesses the accelerometer on Apple’s iPhone. He’s put together a brief video clip which shows off some really fun use of the motion-sensing capabilities.

While I’m a bit skeptical that the video clip could be a fake, developer Erling Ellingsen does have a track record hacking motion-sensors and says he’ll…

I was rummaging around the USPTO Patent database earlier today, and came across this intriguing patent application from Nintendo.

The filing, originally dated March 30, 2007 (but just updated this week) describes a portable gaming system that includes X/Y/Z motion sensing that’s similar to that found in the Wii-Mote. The application abstract describes the system as follows:
“A game system…

This unconventional watch is designed for daredevil types who love sports that involve flying through the air.
Perfect for those who enjoy skiing, snowboarding, skateboarding or biking, DropZone’s HangTimer measures how much time you spent in the air once your body left the ground. By combining a stopwatch with a 3-axis accelerometer, it automatically detects the second you hit the…