Wednesday, February 24, 2010

MagiTact hands-free phone control makes multitouch seem absolutely passe



Are you sick of your needy cellphone, always asking that you pick it up in order to perform essential tasks? Well, the brain wizards at Deutsche Telekom (pictured above) have just the thing for you: MagiTact is an app that uses your phone's compass (provided your phone has a compass) to track changes in the magnetic field around the device. This creates the possibility of a whole host of gesture-based commands, such as silencing a ringing phone or terminating a call, without having physical contact with the device -- as long as you're wearing magnetic rings on your fingers. Another interesting possibility is a pinch-to-zoom function that takes place behind the phone, so your fingers don't obscure the map as you speed away from that ill-fated bank heist -- but seeing as how the technology still only works about ninety percent of the time, we wouldn't recommend using it to make your getaway. [Warning: source link requires subscription]