We are very excited about the integration of the camera-based Motion Browsing feature (sometimes referred to as Tilt Navigation) in the new Samsung Instinct. The Samsung Instinct, recently launched by Sprint is selling out in stores across the United States. The motion browsing feature in the Instinct was developed by Qipit’s parent company, RealEyes3D and is based on our Motion Cortex technology. This is the same technology that earned Realeyes3D an Expert Jury Award at the 3GSM Mobile Monday Global Peer Awards. Checkout this short (2 minute 40 second) compilation video to see what everyone is saying about the Motion Browsing feature.

What is Motion Browsing?

Motion Browsing lets users tilt their phone to pan through a webpage to find the desired content or link. When used in combination with features such as touch sliding navigation (a la Apple’s iPhone), and tactile feedback (using haptics), Motion Browsing provides one of the most intuitive and efficient ways to navigate web pages on small mobile phone displays.

“We believe we’ve created a new usability paradigm that effectively moves the mobile experience away from mimicking a PC’s keyboard and mouse, to one that is a direct extension of a user’s perceptual experience through motion and sense of touch. The Instinct is just the first of what we expect will be many mobile devices that will incorporate our technology in the coming months and years.” – Benoit Bergeret, Founder and CEO of RealEyes3D

The problem with browsing full HTML pages on your mobile phone

Anyone who’s attempted to view full web pages on a typical mobile device is often frustrated by the limitations of the screen. The problem is you are trying to fit content designed for a 15 to 19 inch screen into a 2-inch display. Motion Browsing technology makes navigating large full screen displays more natural, making the bridge from a large to small screen almost seamless. Think of your normal camera phone screen as a window peering into a full HTML web page, as you move your hand, you move the window. You glide effortlessly to the exact spot on the web page you are looking for, and unlike pure touch screen navigation, Motion Browsing minimizes those annoying accidental clicks that are nearly impossible to avoid when touching the screen to navigate. Once you reach the desired content, you switch from Motion Browsing to sliding your finger to click the exact link or button.

How It Works

Motion Browsing uses the phone’s built-in camera to estimate the motion of the phone (or,“handset egomotion”) and translate it into commands for the browser to pan the web page that is being viewed. Because Motion Browsing uses thumbnail sized images, it works regardless of the resolution of the camera. It is a very compact solution that is easy to integrate into any camera phone, and is very responsive to user movements. And because this is a software-based solution leveraging the existing camera module, it does not need additional expensive hardware such as an accelerometer or a gyroscope.

The Motion Browsing solution is available for all the major mobile web browsers, including Teleca’s Obigo and the ACCESS NetFront Browser, as well as other mobile browsers. As this is an embedded software solution, the software is loaded on the phone by the handset manufacturer. Sorry there is no download, you will need to buy the Samsung Instinct to experience it for yourself.

As entrepreneurs and users of mobile devices, we are really excited that this innovation has finally reached the market. We expect this cost effective Motion Browsing solution to enable a powerful new user interface paradigm for all camera phones, not just the higher-end, expensive ones. Shouldn’t everyone be able to efficiently browse the Internet wherever they are, not just when they are in front of a computer or if you own a high-end mobile phone? Let us know your thoughts on this solution to the mobile browsing problem and what phones you would like to see with this added feature.

~ Conrad