back to article iOS7 headshaking interface revealed

Fanbois fond of whipping their hair back and forth will be pleased to know that hidden in the accessibility options of iOS7 is an interface driven by head movements, although some of the experimenters report being locked into a head-shaking paradigm. The feature is clearly a beta concept, and aimed at those unable to use a …

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  1. CADmonkey
    Holmes

    So your sitting on a platform at night

    a train goes by.

    Would the phone explode?

    1. Darryl

      Re: So your sitting on a platform at night

      I was thinking sitting in the stands at Wimbledon

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: So your sitting on a platform at night

        You are Mo Farah, and I claim my 5 Somali shillings.

        You naughty boy.

  2. Mer Ner
    Mushroom

    Grab the pitchforks! Ignite the torches!

    "Smartphones have cameras pointing at our faces, and enough processing power to analyse the images captured by them, but manufacturers have been struggling to find a use for that ability since it became possible."

    I'm sure the NSA would be able to find a use for that ability...

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Grab the pitchforks! Ignite the torches!

      Erm, Samsung's S4 is watching you quite a lot of late. Tracking eye movements for all manner of things.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Grab the pitchforks! Ignite the torches!

        Samsung's S4 is watching you quite a lot of late

        From the description here it sounds like a case of Apple hearing about the Samsung "eye-tracking control" and launching into a rapid "quick, lets do the same so that we invented it" mode

        1. I ain't Spartacus Gold badge

          Re: Grab the pitchforks! Ignite the torches!

          From the description here it sounds like a case of Apple hearing about the Samsung "eye-tracking control" and launching into a rapid "quick, lets do the same so that we invented it" mode

          No it doesn't. From the article it sounds like Apple are playing around with beta software for people with disabilities to access their products. Which, as shouldn't need to be explained to you, is a good thing.

          When Apple are rubbish, or laughable, or just plain evil - please feel free to point and laugh at them with the rest of us. When they do something good, it would be nice to praise them for it. It's not an effort that Google had bothered to make with Android for the first few years. I've not looked at their accessibility options in the last year or so, so they may have improved.

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    "ridiculed as unnecessary fluff"

    A firm is making an effort to provide accessibility to the disabled, and you're going to ridicule their attempt as unnecessary fluff?

    I'm guessing you don't feel El Reg has much of a readership in the disabled demographic, eh?

    1. JudeKay (Written by Reg staff)

      Re: "ridiculed as unnecessary fluff"

      There's a difference between poking gentle fun at hipster fanbois with emo haircuts and actually dissing attempts to cater to disabled users. Come on.

      1. Elmer Phud

        Re: "ridiculed as unnecessary fluff"

        and it is rather limited for some disabled people and totally useless for others who have involuntary head movements.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: "ridiculed as unnecessary fluff"

          It may be limited, but I'm sure it is useful to someone. I would find braile rather limited, but when you have limited vision it is better than nothing.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Thumb Up

      Re: "ridiculed as unnecessary fluff"

      C'mon now AC,

      It's clearly not going to be there just for the benefit of the disabled. Many of whom this won't be suitable for anyway.

      There's a good reason it's there though, they have to "innovate" something similar. We had eye tracking on the galaxy s3, and gesture control (i.e no touch needed) and the ability to scroll etc with the eyes in the galaxy S4.

      (as an aside the OH has an S4.She has the eye scrolling turned off, the gesture/non touch stuff left on.)

      They're not going for any specific market with this, it's simply the predicable "photo-copier" firing up again.

      Eye tracking? Eye tracking? we'll track the whole head, slap a patent on then sue the folk doing the eye tracking stuff (eye = in head!)

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: "ridiculed as unnecessary fluff"

      "A firm is making an effort to provide accessibility to the disabled, and you're going to ridicule their attempt as unnecessary fluff?

      I'm guessing you don't feel El Reg has much of a readership in the disabled demographic, eh?"

      The weakest arguement from an iSheeple to date (and that is difficult, just look at the state of the iFolly).

      You've been fooled!

    4. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: "ridiculed as unnecessary fluff"

      > A firm is making an effort to provide accessibility to the disabled, and you're going to ridicule their attempt as unnecessary fluff?

      Ermm... the "unnecessary fluff" passage was a quote related to a competing product.

      Do you actually make an effort to understand what you read?

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: "ridiculed as unnecessary fluff"

        And in that very paragraph, this feature was being compared to the "unnecessary fluff" features of that competing product, so inferring that this feature is also "unnecessary fluff".

        One of us fails to make an effort to understand what they read, but I do not think it is me.

  4. Anonymous Custard
    Coat

    So between the gestures, the face-tracking and the eyeball focus monitoring, soon we're supposed to look like epileptic spies? Combine it with a bluetooth headset so we look like we're also talking to ourselves and you have the full set.

    Not so long ago appearing like that would have you carted off to the loony bin. Hmm, I guess if you were daft enough to use such a feature then it'd probably be an appropriate response anyway.

    <--- Mine's the one without straps on the arms, at least for now.

  5. I ain't Spartacus Gold badge

    What's the state of Android Accessibility?

    There were almost no accessibility options when I had one, back in the 2.2 days - what's it like now?

    Apple have baked quite a few into iOS, and I believe were recommended by the RNIB. It all looked a bit unfinished to me last time I played with it, trying to see if a 10 year-old blind kid could manage it, only partially successfully. However I've heard that they're making more efforts and recently asked him to do some usability testing. With this news as well, at least Apple seem to be taking the issue at least semi-seriously.

    It is hard though. I saw a sat-nav for blind people, and almost none of them could use it, as there were just too many menus required. In the end, the company went back to the drawing board and came up with something massively simpler. It tells you where you are, so you know when to get off public transport - but only has a few programmed places - which you have to program in when you're actually there. Some of this stuff requires a superb memory of how the system works, and what the menu items are, so only the more techie blind people can really get to grips with it.

    Personally I expected Android to become the kit of choice. Even if Google didn't do it, by being totally customisable, one of the existing suppliers could produce various flavours of accessible launchers. Maybe that's already happened?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: What's the state of Android Accessibility?

      "With this news as well, at least Apple seem to be taking the issue at least semi-seriously."

      Stop kidding yourself! These feature sets have been already been implemented superbly by real companies who do innovate!

      1. I ain't Spartacus Gold badge

        Re: What's the state of Android Accessibility?

        These feature sets have been already been implemented superbly by real companies who do innovate!

        Obviously!,

        Have Google? Which was my question.

        I've been to industry exhibitions on this stuff (as research for starting a company selling it), and there are plenty of computers accessible to people with disabilities. But the only thing I've seen in phones are big buttons and very simple talking ones. No-one has done the kind of modifications to a smartphone that you can get on PCs - at least that I'm aware of. I wouldn't be surprised if this is no longer true, my knowledge is out of date. Android certainly has the potential, as it's so easy to customise. If I was going to sell an accessible smartphone, I'd sell a modified 'Droid of some sort.

        However, despite your hatred of Apple, they've done something good here. They've not put in as much effort as I'd like them to, but they have put in a decent amount - and should be applauded for it.

      2. t.est

        Re: What's the state of Android Accessibility?

        "Stop kidding yourself! These feature sets have been already been implemented superbly by real companies who do innovate!"

        Do you have to make it so obvious that you have no clue of what you're talking about?

  6. Anonymous Coward
    Facepalm

    It's lucky heavy metal fans don't move their heads much

    Oh wait.

  7. 0_Flybert_0
    Stop

    oh no !

    Apple really has to stop giving Microsoft UI ideas to force on the users .. in a poorly implemented form .. of future Windows versions

  8. jubtastic1
    WTF?

    FFS

    It's in the accessibility options, all of which are geared towards variously disabled users, this one is clearly specifically designed to allow people that can only move their fucking eyes to control a fixed in place device.

    But for some reason it's all 'bastard Apple up to its old tricks again' in here.

  9. Herby

    What is next??

    Morse code through eye blinks?

    Maybe if you "talk" italian (sorry for the comment) by waving your hands, it will understand. So, they combine the gravity sensors with the camera and you get a what looks like a crazy guy trying to use an iPhone. Bizarre!

  10. Andy Fletcher

    Android face unlock - staring for a few seconds?

    Mine works faster than I could swipe to unlock or enter a pin. Someone's "doing it wrong". I thought that was just for Apple stuff ;)

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