Handsfree Browser

News

2014.08.14 - Over 160 000 downloads of the handsfree apps! Thank you so much for your support. When you buy my apps, it pays my bills, so I have more time to add new features to hopefully make your life that little bit better!

2013.07.01 - Do you like the way the browser works? You can now control the music player in the same way with Hands-free Music!

Help

Enter a search term, then navigate normally to the page you want.
Put your device on a motionless surface or in a dock where it is easy to read, and wait until a gray camera view box appears.
The sensitive area of the camera is shown as a white box. Use slow swipes of your hand through this box to move the view. To continue scrolling in the same direction, move your hand out of the white box, bring it round outside of the box, then continue back through the box, in a circular motion.:
Cook, fix your bike, or whatever.
If you want to navigate by touch, just pick up your device. You can put it down for hands-free use at any time.

Support

Computer vision is tricky to get working. Please, if you have any problems using the software, some suggestions for future features, or have found a bug, let me know:
I want want to make sure the instructions are clear, that the system works in many different situations, and that you find this software practical and a joy to use.

Main site

Troubleshooting

Some websites run slowly and the motion detection is choppy.
If you have an older phone (iPhone 4), some websites might load slowly. Rendering webpages and vision processing at the same time is very demanding of the hardware, so try and find a mobile version of the site if possible. You can also use slower gestures. I'll be optimising and improving the algorithms as time goes on, so hopefully this will improve.

The screen keeps bouncing back.
The sensitive region of the camera is shown inside the white square, so drag your hand through that, then move it out of view of the camera. The action is more circling than a typical scroll gesture.

It doesn't work, or says "too fast".
If the phone is facing at a bright light, it may confuse the camera. Try moving the phone or pointing it away from overhead lights.

How does it work?

This software uses the OpenCV library, as used in computer vision and robotics research around the world. It captures single frames from the phone's camera, and then applies filters to the frame to extract meaningful information about movement in the scene. This detected motion is then applied to the scroll position of the web browser.

The phone knows when it is being handled, because small motions of the hand cause a change in the phone's acceleration. When the phone is lying still, it enables the motion tracking feature.

Licence

Uses OpenCV software under the BSD Licence:

IMPORTANT: READ BEFORE DOWNLOADING, COPYING, INSTALLING OR USING.
By downloading, copying, installing or using the software you agree to this license.
If you do not agree to this license, do not download, install,
copy or use the software.

Intel License Agreement
For Open Source Computer Vision Library

Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without modification,
are permitted provided that the following conditions are met:

* Redistribution's of source code must retain the above copyright notice,
this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.

* Redistribution's in binary form must reproduce the above copyright notice,
this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the documentation
and/or other materials provided with the distribution.

* The name of Intel Corporation may not be used to endorse or promote products
derived from this software without specific prior written permission.

This software is provided by the copyright holders and contributors "as is" and
any express or implied warranties, including, but not limited to, the implied
warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose are disclaimed.
In no event shall the Intel Corporation or contributors be liable for any direct,
indirect, incidental, special, exemplary, or consequential damages
(including, but not limited to, procurement of substitute goods or services;
loss of use, data, or profits; or business interruption) however caused
and on any theory of liability, whether in contract, strict liability,
or tort (including negligence or otherwise) arising in any way out of
the use of this software, even if advised of the possibility of such damage.

Secure NSUserDefaults

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions: The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.

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