MacBook Pro ... Tap the screen instead of Command+Tab???

[Max on Macs]

Hi guys,

Check out this awesome video on YouTube. Read about it on Digg but nobody there seemed to know a lot about the motion sensors and how this would worka nd where to get it and I thought the people who know these things would be likely to hang around here. Anywhere i can get this app?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6uvQTTPr9Rw&search=macbook%20pro

Thanks
Max

[Eidorian]

http://digg.com/apple/Apple%C2%B4s_sudden_motion_sensor_in_action.

http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=203545

[Max on Macs]

So there is nobody knows where to get this app (yet)? Done a few searches on Google and that and can't find anything?

[wickedG35]

It doesn't exist.

Someone with a bluetooth keyboard behind the camera is controlling the screen ;)

[Max on Macs]

It doesn't exist.

Someone with a bluetooth keyboard behind the camera is controlling the screen ;)
How can you know that?

[g0gie]

I think its very possible to write a small app that uses the motion sensor to capture the hiting of the computer. There are many apps that capture the direction the laptop is going in. The only problem i think would be to make it so that it goes one way (the way intended) and doesnt capture and vibration of the laptop moving back the other way (newtons laws ect)

[matticus008]

I think its very possible to write a small app that uses the motion sensor to capture the hiting of the computer.
Yes, but not the location of the impact, especially on the screen. It's possible to note the direction of the entire computer, but a tap on the screen would a) barely register in SMS and b) not provide any information about where on the screen the impact occurred.

[mmmcheese]

Anyone who touches my screen loses a finger...

[freeny]

This video needs to thrown into a bin with all the other "iPod Video" clips:rolleyes:
It is very likely this is a video playing full screen and has rehersed hand movements. Dont believe everything you see on the web...

[Kingsly]

This video needs to thrown into a bin with all the other "iPod Video" clips:rolleyes:
It is very likely this is a video playing full screen and has rehersed hand movements. Dont believe everything you see on the web...
:confused: :eek: But its on the INTERNET!! It has to be true!

[g0gie]

All the people who doubted me...

http://blog.medallia.com/2006/05/smacbook_pro.html

[g0gie]

Yes, but not the location of the impact, especially on the screen. It's possible to note the direction of the entire computer, but a tap on the screen would a) barely register in SMS and b) not provide any information about where on the screen the impact occurred.


silly matticus, learn hwo the motion sensor works first :P

[Kingsly]

Im using it right now, its freakin awesome!!

I do wish the SMS was a little more sensitive, as sometimes I feel like Im hitting it a little hard.

Oh yeah, and the look on a PC user's face when you show them is priceless.

[Slilock]

I love the new feature. I thought I was going to wear out the control key on my old Powerbook since I always used it to right click.

[Makosuke]

Ooh, this is so cool it's not even funny. With the little tray I use my MPB on it's frankly useless because it's not stable enough, but it's still awesome and a half, and so worth using to show off to other people.

By the way, if you read way down the list of comments on the post referenced above, you'll find that the guy finally got permission to build the motion tracker into a proper installer, which works fine on my MBP anyway. Look for SmackBook 0.2a.

I'm surprised at the people who doubted this; I wasn't 100% sure that the particular video was of a working app until I saw the post above, but anybody who's used a multi-desktop app and any of the various SMS toys that have been around since it was first included in the PowerBook knows that stuff like this is entirely feasable.

I'm waiting for that "marble madness" project that uses the motion sensor to get functional on the MBPs--that will be awesome.

[matticus008]

silly matticus, learn hwo the motion sensor works first :P
It's an accelerometer. If I knock on the wrist rest area or tap on the screen, it's not going to register enough to indicate movement (if it did, any SMS-based apps would be incredibly over-sensitive). If you're hitting it hard enough to move the computer so that the SMS registers, you're hitting it too hard.

If you write an AppleScript to respond to tipping the computer instead of hitting it, then this might be useful. The banging, however, is not.

[Nar1117]

That is crazy... Anyone tried it yet from here?

[Kingsly]

That is crazy... Anyone tried it yet from here?
see post #13 ;)

[Nar1117]

Yeah man, thats awesome.

http://www.osxbook.com/book/bonus/chapter10/ams2hid/

Thats a webpage containing an App for sending the SMS data to any application as a substitute for a mouse/keyboard. I dont know how well it works, but for thos interested in this stuff, it seems like a good program.

[imacintel]

Looks like MacBook Pro is on smack!:D ;)

[Scarlet Fever]

it works. I use it now. Its a little too sensitive, i think. Anyone know ways to make it less sensitive?

[someguy]

see post #13 ;)
I've done it as well, on my PowerBook G4. It's not as cool as it looks because it's not sensitive enough, and if you change the sensitivity in the program, then it goes off on it's own now and again when you don't want it to. Cool for about 5 minutes, but if I want to impress PC users, I stick with Dashboard, Spotlight, Expose, the Genie Effect, and almost every other aspect of Tiger. :D

[billchase2]

i have it working on my powerbook... very cool. you get some great reactions when showing it to people!

[Mal]

Yeah, works great on my MacBook, except sometimes it mixes up the direction, so predicting which desktop it's gonna switch to is harder than his video made it seem. I don't use it regularly since I'm not used to the Virtual Desktops concept, but it's fun to show people.

jW

[exeterbohemian]

i just went through and configured my powerbook to be able to do this. kinda cool, i guess. but for some reason it always wants to shift right, meaning no matter where i hit it, it cycles through the desktops in the same order. :rolleyes: