Is the Bar of Soap Tomorrow's Smarterphone?

Barence writes "Researchers at MIT have developed a gadget that knows whether you want to use it as a camera or smartphone, just by the way you're holding it. So, if you hold the device, dubbed the Bar of Soap, out in front of you like a camera it will automatically bring up an LCD viewfinder. However, if you then switch to holding it as you would a mobile phone, it will bring up a touchscreen keypad instead. The Bar of Soap utilises a three-axis accelerometer and 72 surface sensors to track the position of the user's fingers and its position."

Re:Great

[NonUniqueNickname]

At least you won't have to twist and shake like an idiot for very long. Newer camera-phones enter camera mode pretty fast, less than 10 seconds.

Re:Great

[cayenne8]

Hmm...sounds like a PITA.

Have they never seen anyone lay down while they talk on the phone. I'd be pissed if I was laying down, heard the phone ring, picked it up, and when I said hello, I heard the fscking thing taking pictures of my ear.....

Too smart phone

[nizo]

No matter how smart this phone is, you still shouldn't drop it in the shower.

Re:Great

[Locke2005]

I am sure I won't look like an idiot Hey, you already look like a schizophrenic when you walk down the street talking loudly into the bluetooth headset that nobody can see... how can you possibly look any worse twisting your phone around when you want to take a picture? Perhaps the cell phone manufacturers are just trying to avoid being mandated to produce a loud "shutter" noise every time you snap a digital pic -- a feature I'm sure people that take snaps of animals will absolutely love.

Oblig. tag

[Eudial]

Why isn't this tagged "dontdropthesoap"?!

Alternate application...

[Anonymous Coward]

Now what would be really interesting is if they added a mode that responded as such:

a. Phone rotated 90 degrees such that the lens is pointing toward the sky

b. Phone senses me taping it to my shoe

c. Phone takes snapshots every few seconds.

I'm an avid Upskir^H^H^H^H^H^H shoe-point-of-view sky photographer. It would really make my life easier.

Re:Joy

[Shakrai]

What I wouldn't give for a "lock screen orientation" button.

If you needed such a button then Steve Jobs would have provided it for you. Clearly you aren't using your iPod in the correct manner ;)

I can see this one coming...

[limekiller4]

ZzZzz...

ring
ring

*yawn. [fumble for cell on nightstand.] "Hello?"

*snap snap snap

"What the...??" [pressing "send" by accident]

Now naked pics of my wife are all over the internets. Great.

Re:Great

[AdmiralWeirdbeard]

laf. from the article:

Unfortunately, the disparate demands of the individual interfaces has remained a barrier to complete convergence.

yes its shocking that the interfaces of camera and phone have not suddenly become identical simply because of the possibility to sell them in the same enclosure. *gasp*

Re:Great

[PuckSR]

I agree...

Have you heard about the new computer interface devices called "mice"? They try to interface with a computer via movement of the device across a flat surface rather than just typing in a command. Absolutely useless, and I bet they don't work worth a crap

"There is no evidence that people want to use these things."--John Dvorak(discussing the computer mouse)

Useless and silly technology!

Re:Great

[Chris Burke]

(like with iPhone switching portrait/lansdcape mode)

One of my first experiences with an iPhone was a coworker trying to show me a picture of their son. They'd taken the picture with a different camera, held sideways, so it showed up sideways on the screen. So he rotated the phone. And the iPhone obliged by rotating the picture 90 degrees so that his kid was still sideways.

Needless to say, I was deeply impressed. ;)

Re:Great

[zippthorne]

And net profit!