motionsensor
Latest
Kangaroo expands its line of affordable smart home security sensors
Smart home security is gaining traction, but it generally still comes at a price. Last year, however, startup company Kangaroo entered the market with its system of $30 peel-and-stick motion sensors and low-cost monitoring plans, designed to make security simple, accessible and affordable. Now, it's launching five new equally-affordable products to expand its repertoire and help its users take advantage of even beefier security.
Microsoft ceases production of the Kinect
Microsoft has been slowly chipping away at the Kinect's usefulness and features across its platforms, yet today's news still comes as something of a shock. The company announced today to Co.Design that manufacturing for the motion sensor input device has been shut down.
Philips retroactively adds extra HomeKit support to Hue
Philips has added HomeKit support to a number of existing Hue accessories, expanding their capabilities and making them easier to configure. With the latest software update Hue tap, dimmer switch and motion sensor will all be compatible with Apple' Home app. Tap and dimmer switch can now be configured with HomeKit scenes and can be used to control other accessories (not just Hue lights), while motion sensor will now appear in the Home app as a sensor that can activate both HomeKit scenes and other automations. As well as retroactively adding HomeKit features, the latest update for iOS also brings scheduled automatic updates to accessories, plus the option to reset them to their default state.
Philips Hue motion sensor turns lights on for you
So you have your home all decked out with some sweet smart lights that you can control with your phone. Big deal. True convenience is when your lights turn on exactly when you need them to, without you even lifting a finger. And Philips' new motion sensor can help you achieve that. The $40 device will be available in October, and after my brief preview of the Philips Hue motion sensor, I can't wait till I can get one.
Belkin's WeMo home sensors track everything and the kitchen sink
Do you want to know every little nuance of what's going on in your home? You'll want to give Belkin's new WeMo home sensors a look, then. The surprisingly wide range of household trackers includes a door-and-window sensor, a keychain tracker, a motion detector and a water efficiency monitor -- there's even an alarm sensor that listens for sounds from other sensors, like smoke detectors. All of the devices will alert you if something's amiss, whether you're worried about intruders or tend to run the kitchen faucet for too long. And like the rest of Belkin's highly modular WeMo hardware, they'll frequently work in tandem with other gadgets on the platform. They can turn on the lights when you step into a room, or ramp up the air conditioning only when your window is closed. Most of the sensors will arrive in the second half of 2015, with pricing coming later. The water sensor is still in field testing, however, so it won't be ready to analyze your plumbing until the tail end of the year.
Zepp's tennis and golf swing sensor arrives in UK stores for £130
Zepp's 3D motion sensor has been analysing tennis swings and improving golf games in the US for the past year, and now it's arrived in the UK to tell us how bad we are at sports. The small Bluetooth-equipped sensor clings to the bottom of your tennis racquet, or attaches to your golf glove, and sends all kinds of data about your wild swings to companion Android and iOS apps. The info it records is tailored to whichever sport you're playing -- not that the links are particularly welcoming this time of year -- with the idea that insight into your game will help improve it. The golf app is especially geared towards lowering your handicap, with various training resources and a feature that lets you compare your swing to those of professionals. Both the golf and tennis versions are now available at Apple, Curry's, PC World, Argos and John Lewis stores for £130 a piece.
Zepp 3D motion sensor captures sports data, helps step up your swing
Activity trackers like FuelBand are great if you just want to exercise, but Zepp Labs' new 3D motion sensor might be more useful if you're seriously training in a sport -- especially if it's tennis, baseball or golf. A 1-inch square of negligible weight, the sensor captures data from each swing you make -- so long as you attach it to a glove, racket or bat -- then transmits info to its accompanying iOS or Android app via Bluetooth. The kind of data saved depends on the sport, such as bat speed and angle at impact for baseball, or shot type, power and spin for tennis, which you can then examine in 3D with a 360-degree view within the app. According to the company, the sensor lasts up to eight hours per use. So, if you're into real sports instead of their virtual counterparts, you can snag Zepp Tennis, Baseball or Golf in November for $150 per set, which includes the sensor, mount and app.
Google's living room plans reportedly included a Hangout-ready set-top box
As if the Google TV and Chromecast platforms (which are coexisting, if you hadn't heard) weren't enough, the Wall Street Journal reports there may be more living room focused projects brewing in Mountain View. According to sources, former Android head Andy Rubin demonstrated a Roku-style set-top box for partners at CES that had Hangouts as its main feature, with a video camera and motion sensor built-in for videoconferencing -- something Logitech tried once with its ill-fated Revue TV Cam, shown above. The report claims the box, capable of running Android apps, games and services like Netflix or Pandora, was scheduled to launch at I/O, but it's unknown whether or not it's still in development. Recent WSJ rumors have suggested Google is looking into IPTV and its own Android game system, so even as one mystery is revealed others pop up to take its place.
3BaysGSA Putt: a Bluetooth golf gadget that puts eyes in your putter (hands on)
Motion sensor-based golf devices are all the rage these days, but they mostly target the full swing. Can such electronics be accurate enough to measure a much smaller stroke, namely the all-important putt? Since golf season's nearly here, we decided to find out with the $200 3BaysGSA Putt, a tiny, lightweight device that fits in the handle of a putter and relays stroke information via Bluetooth to an Android or iOS device. As Engadget's resident golf nut, yours truly put the device through its paces both objectively and in a less-than-formal way to see whether it could accurately track a stroke. Will it help you lift your putter in victory, or make you wrap it around a tree? Hit the break to see how we did.
Nikon patent would perfect the art of camera tossing, protect us from our folly
If you're one of the more daring (or foolhardy) photographers out there, you've tried camera tossing: hurling your camera into the air in the hopes that a timed shot will catch either a unique perspective or an artistic spin. Nikon might not want to stop those shooters from throwing caution to the wind, but its recently published Japanese patent would at least keep those throws to a minimum. Cameras based on the patent could use a built-in accelerometer not just for timing the shot, but to brace for a fall by covering the lens and retracting its barrel on the way down. In theory, the photographer gets a perfect aerial portrait without all the guesswork and a minimum of damage. Call us skeptical that we'll ever see the patent reach a shipping product, though -- even if it was limited to rugged cameras, a mode built almost exclusively around voiding the warranty probably wouldn't sit well with Nikon's accountants. [Image credit: Zoli B, Flickr]
Alps Electric integrates motion sensors and eye detection into vehicle cockpit of the future (video)
Residing in hall space a fair distance away from the likes of the Toyota and Sony, the automotive division of Alps Electric was demonstrating a forward-looking vehicle interface at CEATEC 2012. Connecting together the company's existing capacitive touch technology with motion sensors and eye movement cameras, the system centers on the multimodal commander -- that mysterious-looking orb located below the gear stick. Navigation through it can be done through waving your hand over the device, swiping or rotating the orb like a dial. This can then move through weather, music and map programs, which are all integrated into the car's touchscreen, while an overhanging motion sensor will also detect where your hand is headed. An Alps spokesman said that this means the system can try to predict your intentions, adjusting the UI before you reach for the controls. We've got a hands-on video from pretty busy showroom -- and more impressions -- after the break.
Leap Motion reveals super-accurate motion control tech, $70 device to change the UI game
In many respects, Microsoft has led the charge towards a future of gesture-based controls with its Kinect, and other tech giants like Samsung and Apple are getting in on the action, too. The move to motion controls isn't limited to the big boys, however. Leap Motion has created a new device, called the Leap, it claims is 200 times more accurate than existing technology and will take gesture controls to the next level. It's about the size of a pack of gum, and once connected to your computer via USB, it creates a eight-cubic-foot virtual workspace. Within that area, it tracks all ten of your fingers simultaneously to within 1/100 of a millimeter -- that level of accuracy allows for rudimentary gestures like pinch-to-zoom and more complex actions like manipulating 3D-rendered objects. Naturally, the company isn't telling much about the black magic making it happen, but Leap Motion claims that its software can be embedded in almost anything with an onboard computer, from phones to refrigerators. Users can customize it to suit their needs with custom gestures and sensitivity settings, in addition to chaining multiple Leap devices together to create a larger workspace. Plus, Leap Motion has created an SDK for devs to create Leap-compatible applications and an app discovery platform to distribute them to others. That means the Leap can work in a variety of use cases, from simply navigating your desktop to gaming and computer-aided design. The best part? Leap brings you this next-gen UX for a mere $69.99, and a select few can pre-order them now, with the full roll-out coming this winter. Full details follow in the PR below, and you can see the Leap in action in the videos after the break.
SoftKinetic brings DepthSense range sensor to GDC, hopes to put it in your next TV
Microsoft's Kinect may have put depth sensors in the eye of the common consumer, but they aren't the only outfit in the game -- Belgian startup SoftKinetic has their own twist on the distance sensing setup. The literally named "DepthSense" range sensor uses infrared time-of-flight technology, which according to representatives, allows it to not only accurately calculate depth-sensitivity in dark, cramped spaces, but more importantly offers a shallower operating distance than its competition. We dropped by SoftKinetic's GDC booth to see exactly how cramped we could get. It turns out the sensor can accurately read individual fingers between four to fourteen feet (1.5 - 4.5 meters), we had no trouble using it to pinch our way through a few levels of a mouse-emulated session of Angry Birds. The developer hardware we saw on the show floor was admittedly on the bulky side, but if all goes to plan, SoftKinetic says we'll see OEMs stuff the tech into laptops and ARM-powered TVs in the near future. In the meantime, though, gesture-crazy consumers can look forward to a slimmer version of this rig in stores sometime this holiday season. Hit the break for a quick demo of the friendly sensor in action. %Gallery-150189% Dante Cesa contributed to this post.
Omron releases a pair of sleep monitoring gadgets that watch you slumber
Insomnia and a love of gadgets go hand-in-hand, so it's no surprise that more companies want a piece of Zeo's sleep-monitoring action. Omron's the latest to supply an offering with a pair of sensors to work out how much shut-eye your getting. Working on the principle that you stop moving when you're deep in sleep, the devices measure your movement while in bed and count up how long you remain static. The HSL-101 uses a radio-frequency sensor that measures movement to any object within its 5-foot range. The HSL-001 is a pebble-sized kit that sits underneath your pillow and uses an accelerometer to measure your restlessness instead. The 101 will arrive in Japan in May as a standalone unit, while the 001 will need to be paired to an Android smartphone when it arrives in April.
ASUS updates Xtion Pro motion sensor, makes it even more like Kinect
Remember the Xtion Pro and Wavi Xtion motion sensors that ASUS showed off at CES? Well, fast-forward six months and there's already an updated model on the market: the Windows- and Linux-compatible Xtion Pro Live. The new version complements the original's IR and depth sensors with a Kinect-like VGA webcam and a pair of microphones, while also jacking up the bill to a distinctly un-Kinect-like 175 Euros ($300). That price tag won't make us shift our living room furniture around anytime soon, especially since Kinect is already officially heading to the PC. However, that isn't really the point: the Pro Live edition is primarily meant to help developers design better games and apps for the more consumer-focused but as yet unreleased Wavi. Soon as they develop a game that rewards rather than punishes us for dancing like Tina Turner, we'll be right there. [Thanks, TheLostSwede]
Apple seeks patents for 3D and 'physics metaphor' gesture controls
Deep in the stodgy bowels of the USPTO sits a folder full of Apple patent applications specifically for gesture controls. A few more pages from that expanding tome were just made public, and the concepts unearthed are certainly thought-provoking. The first involves using a proximity sensor in addition to the touch panel to register gestures in 3D. For example, you could use three fingers to mark out the corners of a triangle on the screen and then "pull up" and pinch to create a pyramid for use in a CAD application. The second idea involves gestures based on intuitive "physics metaphors" that are recognized using motion sensors. So instead of navigating menus in order to start a file transfer between an iPhone and iPad, the user could arrange the desired files on the phone's screen and then pretend to "pour" them onto the tablet -- an idea which rather reminds of the funky Project Blox. Oh, did we just make a Cupertino lawyer twitch?
Hyper Ping Pong is like real table tennis, only without the ball, table or opponent (video)
Microsoft and Nintendo might already have the motion-based table tennis simulation market locked down, but there's one thing their consoles need that the new Hyper Ping Pong paddle doesn't: a TV. That's right, this motion sensor-equipped bat lets you play without the superfluous need for something to look at -- it comes with a speaker that plays back the sound of a rally and all you need to do is "go with the rhythm." A button integrated into the handle lets you put a little extra sauce on your volleys and accurate timing will win you points, awesome sound effects, and the admiration of all your friends. The Hyper Ping Pong kit will start selling in Japan this October for ¥2,000 ($25).
Unity Corporation releases Xtion Pro PC motion sensor in Japan
We're still waiting for some specific US launch details for the Xtion Pro and Wavi Xtion motion sensors that ASUS showed off at CES earlier this year, but it looks like folks in Japan can now already get their hands on half of that duo. Unity Corportation has just announced that it's releasing the Xtion Promotion sensor (complete with an SDK) in the country for ¥19,980, or roughly $240. That should work similarly to a Kinect considering that PrimeSense is responsible for much of the technology behind it, although you should be aware that this one is aimed squarely at developers looking to create their own games and applications for it. You'll have to wait for the more consumer-friendly Wavi Xtion for something that you can simply plop down in your living room.
Weta Workshop builds real-life TF2 sentry gun, minus the screaming and blood (video)
Weta Workshop is filled with engineers, and that means they solve problems. Practical problems. For instance, how Valve Software is going to keep its throng of Team Fortress 2 players in awe. The answer? Use a gun. Like this heavy-caliber, tripod-mounted, fastidiously crafted life-size reproduction of The Engineer's level 1 Sentry Gun, which features a bona fide motion sensor for tracking whosoever is fool enough to venture into Valve's geektastic lobby in Bellevue, Washington and touch the darn thing. We're ready to volunteer. Video after the break.
Shocker! GameStop expects Kinect and Move to be in short supply this holiday season
Are you prepared to be blown away? Have your mind flipped inside-out? Experience a revelation to end all revelations? Tough luck, bubs. During an earnings call yesterday, GameStop president Tony Bartel was cited as saying that both Microsoft's Kinect and Sony's PlayStation Move would both be difficult to find this holiday season, noting that the Kinect would be "a hot item through the holiday season and the key opportunity will be just to continue to keep them in stock." He also stated that the Move would be "in short supply," and even went so far as to predict that consumers would be "following the UPS truck to our stores to pick up that product as soon as they can find it." Naturally, GameStop's in-stock guarantee won't apply to the two things it actually should (read: Kinect and Move), and Tony stopped short of providing hard evidence that this so-called shortage would in fact occur. But hey, no one ever said that drumming up demand for a product your store hawks was a bad business move, you know? And on the real, we're guessing that Santa will actually have the hots for these things, and if you're considering one, it's always wise to be proactive. Or spend countless nights attempting to snipe Johnny Doe on eBay -- your call. [Image courtesy of Geek In Heels]