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Apple Researching 'Physics Metaphor' Gestures for Inter-Device Communication

This is really interesting and looks like it would be easy to implement. I am almost expecting this in a future iOS 5 update. I feel that, after learning about it, if it is not put into use in short order then I will consider it a failure on apple's part to come up with good, feasible ideas and then never use them. Unless they come up with something better. Even so, this looks fun.
 
This is yet another patent request that gives no real method or implementation details.

In other words, it's just a gesture vocabulary definition without any substance behind it.

Heck, I remember old air gesture R&D demos where you could hold out your hand and "pour" paint onto a surface. This patent request is very similar.

It's as if somebody watched the recent "Iron Man" movies and/or got drunk at a party and decided to write all the coolest gesture suggestions down... and then apply for a patent.

Good grief.

Edit: Okay, reading closer, only part of it is like I described... an attempt to patent a gesture. The core section is actually concerned only with the physical animation characteristics of a visual object on the screen as you "toss" data around. It still doesn't go into the actual physics. The whole application is vague as heck.
 
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I'm surprised nobody has mentioned Hawaii 5-0, they have a fake computer interface with lots of these sorts of things.
 
This is actually a great idea. I would love to be able to do this. A patent application implies the possible granting of it, at which time it's Apple's baby.
 
fluffylion said:
stop it already. just stop

i would of thought after coverflow, apple would of stopped making gimmicky crap for their stuff. obviously there is some development nerd whose good at giving head..first action plans and getting what he wants.
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To be fair, all of these gestures and whatnot will make perfect sense, when Apple abandons monitors in favor of an augmented-reality interface, courtesy of the iMonocle.
 
yet another apple patent useful for one thing: sueing other phone companies if their phone does ANYTHING when you turn it upside down.
 
Do it

DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT!

JUST DO IT! I love watching futuristic movies like avatar and minority report and their computers do that.... that'd be so sexy... i dont care that its eye appeal and just another useless feature... who cares thatd be some hotness
 
Only the simplest of minds would get excited about this. Just another reason why Apple is falling behind one of the fastest moving industries and will end up just like RIM. The next iPhone is already late, put the extra effort in getting that out on time rather than childish gimmicks like this. Good grief.
 
MacRumors said:
One example presented in the patent application demonstrates how a user could "pour" a set of files to transfer them from an iPhone-like device to a tablet device similar to the iPad. Files displayed on the iPhone's screen could animate the pouring process by appearing to respond to gravity as the iPhone is tipped, and files could behave in differing manners to provide more visual interest, such as by having larger files appear to be heavier than smaller ones and thus moving more slowly in the pouring process.
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I don't know whether to laugh or cry. Seriously!
MacRumors said:
As always, Apple's patent applications should be read primarily for their basic interest and as a view into what Apple's engineers may be thinking about.
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Or what they might be smoking.
 
DanteMann said:
Only the simplest of minds would get excited about this. Just another reason why Apple is falling behind one of the fastest moving industries and will end up just like RIM. The next iPhone is already late, put the extra effort in getting that out on time rather than childish gimmicks like this. Good grief.
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Agreed. Apple's products, with the introduction of features like this, excision of many pro products, and moving their computer line in the direction of mobile devices (app store), have become more and more like toys and less like "get-something-useful-done" machines.
 
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_2_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8C148 Safari/6533.18.5)

res1233 said:
whooleytoo said:
Not hugely different from the 'tap to share' on WebOS?
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let it be shared by everyone. iOS comes up with an innovation, same thing. WebOS isn't as popular, but it came up with some important innovations itself that iOS (and MacOS for that matter) has adopted, such as swiping to switch between apps. That was one of my favorite features of WebOS.

I don't mean just blatant feature copying with 0 attempt at creativity, but some features are important enough that every OS should have them.
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Finger swipping was a web OS innovation? Wasn't apple already using that to switch from one iphone home screen to another? So the fact that web os transfered that to switching apps instead of the home screen makes it a web OS invention and not apples?

Yikes

Though I bet neither came up with the "finger swipe changes focus" I'm sure it was used years before in the development if the technology.
 
I'd rather a button that says "Send to nearby device"
Basically AirDrop.

Why do I need to physically exert myself to get files to move around. Very professional.
 
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