The Bizarre App Experiments

A series of 'app experiments' brought to you by Don Turner and Luca Sale of the BlackBerry Developer Relations team.

Experiment 1 – How do we control the speed of a song just by using our heartrate?

Person is exercising while wearing a Bluetooth heart rate monitor. The app listens to the heart rate monitor and plays "Eye of the tiger" at a speed relative to their heart rate. The person must play the music at the correct speed by increasing their heart rate to 160.

Technologies: Bluetooth, OpenAL, Audio playback

Experiment 2 – How do we use NFC to track performance?

There are 2 cones approximately 10m apart. The person has to run to one cone and back again to complete a lap. The person is carrying an NFC card. To complete a lap they must tap it onto a BlackBerry mounted on one of the cones. The app listens for NFC 'taps' and shows the person's lap times, as well as decreasing the target lap time. If the person drops below the target they are fired at with Nerf guns.

Technologies: NFC

Experiment 3 – How can we control an AR drone using a GamePad?

An AR drone is flown across the audience to find members who have fallen asleep. The AR drone is controlled by a Bluetooth Gamepad. The video feed from the AR drone is shown on the big screen.

Technologies: Bluetooth, Gamepad API, WiFi, Augmented Reality

Experiment 4 – How can we turn a phone into a musical instrument?

Audience members are asked to make sounds (e.g. hi-hat, snare etc) which are recorded using a BlackBerry App. Each sound's pitch and repeat rate is controlled by the accelerometer x and y axis, so by moving the device we change the sound. By manipulating each sound we should be able to make a song.

Technologies: Microphone, Audio playback, OpenAL, Accelerometer

Experiment 5 – How can we create a networked game?

Technologies: Networking, WiFi