Last month, French researchers Jeremie Francone and Laurence Nigay posted a video showing off a method for using head tracking by a device's camera to simulate three-dimensional scenes for the iPad, a concept in which Apple has expressed some interest.
/article-new/2011/05/i3d_targets.jpg?lossy)
As noted by MacStories, a new demo app from Francone and Nigay known as i3D has appeared in the App Store, giving users the opportunity to test out the technology on their own devices.
i3D is a free universal app running on the iPad 2, iPhone 4, and fourth-generation iPod touch. It contains a sample video image displaying a bounding box as it tracks the user's head location, as well as five demos showing the simulated 3D perspective that can be generated using the tracking.
Related Roundups: iPod touch, iPad
Buyer's Guide: iPod Touch (Don't Buy), iPad (Buy Now)
Top Rated Comments
I just want to know how it works when no one is touching the ipad.. I can understand the technology with the accelerometer in place.
Actually, it doesn't use the accelerometer. According to the article, it uses the front camera to track where your head is in relation. Because of that, there's no need to touch the iPad.What is the music from ??
A piano. ;)
I think the stuttering and hesitation on the subsequent demos might have more do with the graphics processing & rendering than the actual tracking algorithms.
Note: I tested on an iPhone 4.