When AikonLab was preparing to launch, it offered 2 applications – nALertMe, and Handwave. nALertMe has been available for a few days now, but the first beta of Handwave was just released to donators, and it’s looking pretty good. Keep in mind, if you donate to get the application, that it’s an early beta, and thus has limited functionality and is still not 100% implemented.
That being said, I went ahead and donated to get ahold of this first beta, and despite being skeptical at first, I can definitely see a good use for Handwave. Basically, Handwave makes use of the front-facing VGA-resolution camera on our S60-powered smartphones, to detect movements and translate those into control commands. As you’ll notice in the beta, there are two ‘sensor’ areas on the left and right side of the camera’s view (only side-to-side is available in this first beta). To send the ‘left’ command to the phone, merely pass your hand across the camera’s view, from right to left.
You can currently adjust the sensitivity level of Handwave, which may be good in different situations, but for now, you cannot move up/down, or click. At first, this seems a bit silly, but if you use your phone as an MP3 player in your car, you’ll quickly see that this application is GENIUS for a much safer way to control your music in the car. Simply set your phone in a car mount, and start the Music Player, along with Handwave. You can now simply wave your hand across the camera to easily skip ahead or skip back to the previous track.
Future versions should allow you to pause the music and then resume, or perform other functions, as well. Great job to the team at AikonLab, and we’re looking forward to the future versions!
