Re: Measuring the gap between the spec and browser implementations

Hi Rich,

thanks for the feedback.

> FYI, I previously raised this issue on this list @
>
> http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/public-geolocation/2012Jun/0000.html

Wow...that is going back a bit 8)


> In that email I proposed a series of (manual) tests that could be used 
> to check the calibration of device orientation across vendor 
> implementations.

I'd love to work with you and the WG to formalise this test approach 
further. We'd be happy to perform tests across all the mainstream 
browsers on multiple devices and capture all the results along with 
photos of the devices.

And it would be great to get these test repeated on a larger scale 
across many users too.

We've had three ideas around this.

1. Create an open source hardware rig that rotates devices through a 
pre-defined set of poses. This could be paired with a simple test page 
that also captures the resulting data throughout so the output can be 
validated.

2. In order to also test the DeviceMotion API we were thinking of 
getting the worldwide drone community to repeat the same type of tests 
using drones in different locations flying through pre-defined flight 
plans and logging the data against calibrated sensors onboard. This has 
some limitations but I think it could really capture a lot of people's 
imagination.

3. See our pairing app below.

But perhaps just starting with your proposed desk-based tests could be 
simpler to get started 8)

Either way...I think a global "calibrate the web" day could deliver 
great benefits to everyone involved.

> I coded up an in-browser 3d compass implementation that could act as a 
> useful calibration test for Device Orientation implementations @
>
> https://github.com/richtr/Marine-Compass

I've seen this example...nice compass 8)

> That implementation is based on the calibration of Device Orientation 
> found in Opera Mobile 12.1 which was implemented according to the 
> calibration described in the draft Device Orientation spec. Opera 
> Mobile 12.1 is available as a download from 
> http://www.opera.com/mobile/download/versions/ in case you want to 
> test this out :)

I'll definitely test our demos against Opera now too 8)


> I think the specification could benefit from more visual feedback to 
> developers (e.g. photos, diagrams and/or spatial graphs/charts would 
> be very helpful) to understand how device orientation values should 
> return as a device travels through a series of selected reference planes.

We'd be happy to provide 3D animations of common devices moving through 
known poses and relating them to what the specified values should be. We 
also have a websockets based mobile/pc paired app that could present 
this to make it much easier for developers to understand what's going 
on. You basically load a web page on your PC and then load the same page 
on your mobile device to pair the two. Then you see a 3D representation 
of your mobile device and what it's current pose should be - so you can 
easily and visibly compare it to how the device is actually oriented.

If you and the WG think this would be useful just let me know.


> It may be worth revisiting that thread in relation to your research.
>
> Thank you for posting your findings. 

No problems at all. This really is a deceptively complex topic 8)

roBman

Received on Monday, 20 January 2014 08:36:42 UTC