GestureTek Mobile one of NATPE Mobile++ Top 12 for 2007

How many of you play games on your cell phone?  Me, not so much, but lots of other folks do.  Now one of the annoying things about games on a phone is controlling it via your phone.  Yeah not so much fun.  Toronto-based GestureTek has matched the ubiquity of camera phones with software called EyeMobile to let you use your phone, essentially, like a Wii controller.  You move the phone and it "sees" what is going on and changes the screen accordingly.  Pretty darn cool.

GestureTek was given props for two of their apps Cellfun and a South Park game, but I think the really cool stuff is what it can do with just regular phone usage (games of course will win the day)

GestureTek’s EyeMobile Engine takes mobile gaming and navigation to new heights. This software-only solution uses the existing camera on a mobile device to deliver a gesture-based interface to mobile applications. An entertaining and intuitive alternative to conventional button interfaces, EyeMobile allows users to do anything they would normally do with their mobile device, such as play games, answer calls, make menu selections or scroll, pan and zoom in on photos, simply by shaking, rocking or rolling their device. With the EyeMobile Engine, handset manufacturers can offer all the benefits of gesture recognition technology without the expense and real-estate of adding specialized hardware.  The EyeMobile Engine application programming interface (API) also provides application developers with the means to integrate motion control into their applications, much as they do with current analog controls such as keys and buttons. Source: GestureTek Mobile

The corporate video about the EyeMobile technology (WMV, about 8 megs), shows folks flicking their wrists to look at documents or a map on their phones.  See, while games are fun, I think being able to just flick my wrist to pan and scroll a map is extremely handy.  Yeah I know you’re not supposed to use Google Maps while driving, but sometimes you need to figure out where you are, this could make that operation a little safer and easier.

Now … wondering what the next big thing in mobile will be?  I’m wondering if we’re going to move to something like a hybrid UMPC – phone thing.  Maybe that’s going to be too big to carry, on the other hand if that replaces a phone and laptop for around town … might be good.  Of course that will start a whole industry around carry bags.