Tricorders - Relation to Java...unknown but.. This question/discussion has been prompted by my being a geek and after a discussion with my older brother I got a Tricorder app for both my iPod and Android phone.
The iPod version was paid for and probably a bit more cosmetically polished. The application just seems to present a static routine of results and I don't think it makes use of any sensors or even have a batch of random scanning results to add to variety. Probably will work as a novelty amongst geeks for that perfect moment to do a scan of something for comic effect. Not much use besides. The Android version actually surprised me by being half way useful. The Android app does use the sensors and the different displays are actually linked into the different phone features. Gravity can be sensed from the accelerometer. The Electro Magnetic panel lists different WIFI networks with signal strengths as well as the Cellular network info. The Geo panel links into the GPS. There is a Magnetic panel for the electronic compass. An acoustic panel with waveform information from the Microphone. Perhaps the higher proportion of Geeks around Android made for a better Tricorder app on the platform. Also the Android app is free. It did make me wonder about Tricorders and how far away such technology is. Ruggedised PDAs used for on sight data collection have been around for quite a while. Devices are starting to get sensors. Perhaps the sensors are the main thing to develop further now before that kind of device becomes more complete. Science Fiction does look at the future and try and predict what technology we will have. The idea of tablet computers has been around in Star Trek since the 60's and so has probably inspired a lot of geeks to want to make them real. As regards sensors I wondered about this since the iPhone 4 launch when the gyroscope was added to the phone. I wondered what the next sensor or sensors would be to get added. I thought it funny to imagine Steve getting up on stage and saying "How are we going to top the gyroscope? The new iPhone will now ship with.......a geiger counter...and a mass spectrometer!" Well...maybe not. What sensors do you want or think we will get and when are we getting Tricorders? -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "The Java Posse" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/javaposse?hl=en.
