News By Lee Mathews May. 28, 2014 3:48 pm
Is the four-inch display on your iPhone feeling a little small? Why not clip on a slim, sensor-packed cover and turn your entire desk or coffee table into an input device?*That’s the promise of a new Leap Motion-like accessory called Fuffr. Though the gyroscope-accelerometer pairing has been used to track motion before, Fuffr doesn’t utilize the iPhone’s built-in sensors. Instead, the motion-sensing tech is built into the Fuffr case, which communicates with the iPhone via Bluetooth LE.
The demo video that Fuffr posted to YouTube is filed under gaming, and it’s easy to see why. There are loads of fun, multiplayer concepts that would work well with the case’s sensors. Things can get a little cramped when you’re dueling with a friend on half of a four-inch display. Being able to use the whole table or desk on which an iPhone is laying could be a major improvement.
Other types of apps could take advantage of the added space, too. Just think of it, swiping to scroll, zoom, and pan, all without leaving a single smudge or streak on your iPhone’s display.
There’s no denying that Fuffr — like Leap Motion — has plenty of potential, and like we saw with the Leap, it’s hard to sell a product based purely on its potential.The Fuffr team will have to do some serious convincing, especially since we don’t know how many apps will support it, how much it will cost, and what the impact on battery life is.*Let’s hope it’s not like the Leap Motion in that respect, because they won’t sell many Fuffr cases if they have to echo HP’s warning that “battery life may be significantly reduced” while it’s in use.
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The demo video that Fuffr posted to YouTube is filed under gaming, and it’s easy to see why. There are loads of fun, multiplayer concepts that would work well with the case’s sensors. Things can get a little cramped when you’re dueling with a friend on half of a four-inch display. Being able to use the whole table or desk on which an iPhone is laying could be a major improvement.
Other types of apps could take advantage of the added space, too. Just think of it, swiping to scroll, zoom, and pan, all without leaving a single smudge or streak on your iPhone’s display.
There’s no denying that Fuffr — like Leap Motion — has plenty of potential, and like we saw with the Leap, it’s hard to sell a product based purely on its potential.The Fuffr team will have to do some serious convincing, especially since we don’t know how many apps will support it, how much it will cost, and what the impact on battery life is.*Let’s hope it’s not like the Leap Motion in that respect, because they won’t sell many Fuffr cases if they have to echo HP’s warning that “battery life may be significantly reduced” while it’s in use.
More...
