Mobile phones offer considerable challenges for game developers, and not least among them is the user interface, which is primarily optimized for number entry rather than for playing games. In fact, due to the limitations one of the most desirable criteria for mobile games has the design of games controlled by a one-button interface. However, this type of interface has only been seen as applicable for casual games, where mastering the interface is de-emphasized. As a number of mobile phones are starting to appear with 3-D accelerometers, game developers have the opportunity to investigate new interface mechanisms. In this article we illustrate how accelerometers provide the possibility of a no-button mobile game. While 3-D accelerometers offer a range of possible interface mechanisms, the one that requires minimal signal processing and no external references is motion, and in particular, tilt, and as such is eminently suitable for mobile phones. In this article we explore a tilt interface for a 3-D graphics first-person driving game titled Tunnel Run, and compare the user experience playing the same game with a traditional phone joypad interface and with a tilt interface in two different modes. The results show that the tilt interface was experienced as fun, and certainly seemed more attractive to players, who said they would not have played this type of game otherwise.

PhoneTouch is a novel technique for integration of mobile phones and interactive surfaces. The technique enables use of phones to select targets on the surface by direct touch, facilitating for instance pick&drop-style transfer of objects between phone and surface. The technique is based on separate detection of phone touch events by the surface, which determines location of the touch, and by the phone, which contributes device identity. The device-level observations are merged based on correlation in time. We describe a proofof-concept implementation of the technique, using vision for touch detection on the surface (including discrimination of finger versus phone touch) and acceleration features for detection by the phone.

No abstract

No abstract

Whilst Augmented Reality (AR) has been a prevalent research topic it has proved difficulty to implement and apply in commercial situations as it generally requires complex and expensive hardware. With the proliferation of mobile phones amongst the world population with ever increasing sets of advanced features such as cameras and high resolution screens AR has the opportunity to emerge from laboratories and enter the high street. In this paper we discuss a unique system that will allow complex and highly interactive visual 3-D adverts to be viewed on mobile phones equipped with cameras. The 3-D adverts are contained within a novel visual code design which allows the system to be deployed without the requirement for additional network infrastructure making it both practical and affordable for advertisers.