Filed under: Hardware, Software, Odds and ends, PowerBook, Macbook Pro, MacBook
Lilt - wave your notebook like you just... want to turn up iTunes
If you're finished with smacking your MacBook to make it do your bidding, maybe you can move on to tilting it and playing with the some mood lighting (in the Pro models) to really get things done? Lilt is a new app that harnesses the power of of Apple's Sudden Motion Sensor (found in PowerBooks, MBs and MBPs) and the ambient light sensor (PowerBooks and MBPs only) to allow you to trigger the launch of applications, files and scripts. With AppleScript support, the possibilities are of course almost limitless, but the basic examples the developer Jonathan Nathan uses include waving your hand over the ambient light sensor to change tracks in iTunes, as well as tilting the machine back to hear the time spoken to you. Naturally, Lilt includes plenty of built-in actions like locking the screen, speaking text, controlling the volume and launching apps, just to help you hit the ground running.
Until November 30th, Lilt is offered as a pre-release version, free of restrictions. After that, the price rises to a mere $5. Not bad for a whole new way to boss your notebook around, and with Lilt, the odds are far less that you might give it a black eye.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Tom said 5:14PM on 11-13-2006
This reminds me of that kid's game called Bop It (http://www.hasbro.com/bopit/) where you have to follow instructions to hit, twist, pull, etc various levers and wheels on the toy. Not sure I would want to do that with my PowerBook though.
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JL said 5:28PM on 11-13-2006
Doesn't the last version of the iBooks also have the sensor, or no? Just curious as I would love to use this on my 12" 1.33 Mhz ibook.
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superjeff said 6:29PM on 11-13-2006
I read an article the other day (although I can't seem to find it right now) that Steve Jobs demanded that his designers integrate features into the Apple notebooks so that people wouldn't have to smack and wave at their computers to get them to do what they want. And you know what? The designers came through! They put KEYS ON THE KEYBOARD! They'll do whatever you want them to do. No idiotic gestures required.
Now maybe I'm being a little harsh, but isn't all this just a little silly?
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David Hepburn said 6:33PM on 11-13-2006
Also worth noting is that the pre-release version ceases to function on the 30th and you are required to pay the $5 to keep using it once it is formally released.
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John said 6:43PM on 11-13-2006
But if we can get computers to respond by flicking our hands, isn't this the holy grail of user interface? Doesn't this point the way towards something much more exciting, where users could control their computers without having to use a mouse or trackpad? This seems like it could tell us something about a very desirable development in user interface - something hasn't moved beyond mouse and keyboard in two decades (okay, we got the trackpad...). Waving your hand is better for RSI and ease of use than moving a mouse. The conceptual possibilities are amazing!
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