Tyson: March 2008

Introduction

This review is on accelerometers and theirs uses as a technology in physical computing. It will cover how they work, and the possible applications that it may have. We will also look at projects that are already out there and look at some of the technologies out there that are already using them.

About

An accelerometer is a device for measuring the acceleration and gravity it experiences. It uses 3 axis sensors to detect the magnitude and direction of the acceleration. This device can use one or several axis at the same time depending on what is needed. It can be used for sensing inclines, vibrations and shock giving it many applications. It is amazingly small at 4mx4mx1.5m, low power consumption, a 10,000g shock survival, and excellent temperature stability makes it very robust.

Current projects

Phones
There are several areas that are just exploring accelerometers the biggest being phones. Nokia, Ipod Touch, Sony Ericsson are all finding intuitive ways to incorporate them into their designs. Things from: Shaking you phone to open a SMS then shaking it again and it closing the message and locking your phone. Flipping the phone upside down to put a phone on silent and changing the angle of a picture based on which way you are holding it. Also there is an application that lets you shake the phone in various directions to scroll through menus and make selections.

Click here to watch Video

Nintendo

The second big industry taking advantage of accelerometers is Nintendo. Everyone has Seem the new will console that adds physics movement of the controls. This allows people to use real actions to on virtual games. They have created games that mimic real sports such as bowling, tennis and baseball. And replace typical button press actions like turning left and right or jumping into a movement of the controller. This has been the rebirth of Nintendo and a totally different direction than its competitors.

Safety

Car manufacturers use a type of accelerometer to sense when to deploy the air bags in cars. This is a example of the accelerometer being used on only one axis.

The Future

The games industry has nowhere to go but up with the introduction of accelerometers. This could be the technology used for mimicing human actions inside 3D simulated worlds, leaving behind game controls forever. The next hand held game could have more physical controls. 3D modeling using real movement from people, plants and animals. surgeries could be done with machines that mimic a surgeons hands;the possibilities are endless.