Skip to Content

Found Footage: The iPhone sonic ruler

by Erica Sadun Aug 18th 2009 at 10:00PM

Have you ever had a device that you wanted to make just a little bit more sonic? Have you ever been up late, measuring rooms and thought: "Could I approach this task with an iPhone? Sonically?" Fortunately for you, the good people at Laan Consulting have already thought of this. They've anticipated this eventuality and are now shipping the iPhone Sonar Ruler [iTunes link] for just a buck on the iTunes Store.

Yes, these good folk have imbued the iPhone with sonic goodness. As the video on the next page shows, the application sends short pulses and measures their return delay. Sure, you could go out to Office Depot and spend twenty bucks getting a far more reliable, dedicated unit but isn't it more fun to help support iPhone devs while really pushing the device beyond its design intent?

And don't forget: Bananas are good. They are excellent sources of potassium.

Thanks to Neekers




View Tags

Related Stories

Categories

iPod Family iPhone App Store App Review

Have you ever had a device that you wanted to make just a little bit more sonic? Have you ever been up late, measuring rooms and thought:...
 

Add a Comment

Sign in »
*0 / 3000 Character Maximum

22 Comments

Filter by:
Steven

In my opinion, this app seems not to be that sophisticated as the other one I downloaded already a few month ago. Basically "Sonic ruler" does more or less the same thing but offering less features. Let me check the original... yes: "Pocketmeter"!

August 20 2009 at 3:18 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to Steven's comment
Steven

oh yes... I meant "Sonar Ruler", the other app is that one with the ear-phones

August 20 2009 at 3:24 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Shawn McBee

SO happy to see so many quotes from The Doctor here. Thoughts of The Doctor were the only reason I clicked through to read the comments on this one.

As an aside... Do you know what happens if you hold two identical sonic devices against each another? Nor me!

August 20 2009 at 12:33 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
lens

This is cute, but I want the one that uses the frikkin laser beam. What? No laser on the iPhone? Get with it, Apple! ;-)

August 19 2009 at 1:31 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Jim

Bananas are good - always take a banana to a party. Just be sure not to invent the banana daiquiri a few centuries too early...

August 19 2009 at 12:17 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Keith Smith

What, nobody appreciates good DOCTOR WHO quotes 'round here? Thanks, not only am I gonna have to check the app out, I'm gonna have to re-watch "The Empty Child" and "The Doctor Dances" again.... "Never been bored? Never had a long night? Or a lot of cabinets to put up?" Love it.

August 18 2009 at 11:55 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
2 replies to Keith Smith's comment
Sparks

Hey, c'mon, I responded with a quote of my own! Granted, I went to 'The Sound of Drums,' two seasons later, for my quote... but still! :)

August 19 2009 at 1:12 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Megan Lavey-Heaton

Hey, you should have seen us on the internal TUAW mailing list. We're pretty big Doctor Who/Torchwood fans back there! Ironically enough, I've had a hankering for a series 1 rewatch ...

"He returns ...

"My name is [REDACTED]"

*goes to watch "The End of Time" trailer from SDCC again*

August 19 2009 at 11:49 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
weckman

I bought it as well, merely because it's just a fun app to show off. I also bought SudokuMagic for the same reason, even though I don't like the game itself. Sometimes the uses developers come up with just amaze me, and that alone is worth supporting.

Apart from that, the app does work rather well. Fortunately one can switch between metric and imperial, wasn't sure about that when I bought it. In my tests it performed amazingly well, and I didn't even touch the advanced settings too much, of which there are a few. The only thing that is a bit annoying is that one has to enter the current temperature. As the iPhone doesn't have a thermometer build in (yet! :-) ), you have to guess, as Yahoo weather won't tell You how warm it is inside buildings.

Still, if doubtful in its actual usefulness, this is one small but amazing app. And who knows, maybe the iPhone of 2010 will have a laserpointer that can be used for even better measurements. The sky's the limit...no wait, actually battery life is... :-)

August 18 2009 at 11:35 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Ryan Sandberg

Wow. That is truly amazing, and true too. I bought it and it's accurate to the inch for me. I always wished I had a long ruler on my iPhone, now I have one. :D

August 18 2009 at 11:04 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
2 replies to Ryan Sandberg's comment
Tom

Add a tripod and create and app to create a 3D model of the space.

August 19 2009 at 9:24 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
brandon

@Tom: Dark Knight, anyone!?! :)

September 22 2009 at 11:40 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
dsh

Lol, I was expecting to see a certain Hedgehog here but this is interesting also.

August 18 2009 at 10:46 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Daniel Y. Suzuki

This is almost brilliant! However, the only problem I foresee is isolating the audio when you are in a noisy room. Say a construction site.
And it would be nice if they used the accelerometer to help you level the phone while holding it.
But cheers for the awesome app!

August 18 2009 at 7:37 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
2 replies to Daniel Y. Suzuki's comment
Ryan Sandberg

Actually, they do have a meter on there that will help you level it. See the red/orange/green circle in the video? It lets you know. :D

August 18 2009 at 11:03 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Alex

if you are working a construction site and use your iphone to measure things, you aren't gonna keep that job very long

August 19 2009 at 12:51 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Sparks

Pfft. /Laser/ screwdriver. Who'd have sonic?

(Oh, c'mon. Someone had to reply with the Master's quote, even if it's from two seasons later than the banana joke.)

August 18 2009 at 7:26 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to Sparks's comment
holo

haha that's the first thing i thought of when i saw the article title

August 19 2009 at 7:52 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Buy an ad here

Hot Apps on TUAW

Tweets

© 2012 AOL Inc. All Rights Reserved.