[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":222},["ShallowReactive",2],{"blog:2006:hardware_hacking_macbook_movement_sensor":3,"blogMore-Technology":208,"comments-hardware_hacking_macbook_movement_sensor":221},{"_path":4,"_dir":5,"_draft":6,"_partial":6,"_locale":7,"title":8,"description":9,"date":10,"category":11,"tags":12,"excerpt":16,"body":31,"_type":198,"_id":199,"_source":200,"_file":201,"_stem":202,"_extension":203,"url":204,"wordCount":205,"minutes":206,"commentCount":207},"/blog/2006/hardware_hacking_macbook_movement_sensor","2006",false,"en","Hardware hacking the MacBook movement sensor","Developers keep finding new and unexpected uses for hardware and software, seemingly never more so than on the Mac and OS X.","2006-05-29T09:17:24+00:00","Technology",[13,14,15],"Apple","MacBook","macOS",{"type":17,"children":18},"root",[19,26],{"type":20,"tag":21,"props":22,"children":23},"element","p",{},[24],{"type":25,"value":9},"text",{"type":20,"tag":21,"props":27,"children":28},{},[29],{"type":25,"value":30},"Whether they’re using the iSight camera to scan bar codes into your Delicious Library or turning the Apple Remote into a alarm key-fob in TheftSensor there’s always some novel hack around the corner for the latest bit of kit.",{"type":17,"children":32,"toc":191},[33,37,41,46,51,56,63,68,73,89,103,109,122,127,132,138,151,156,161,166,182],{"type":20,"tag":21,"props":34,"children":35},{},[36],{"type":25,"value":9},{"type":20,"tag":21,"props":38,"children":39},{},[40],{"type":25,"value":30},{"type":20,"tag":21,"props":42,"children":43},{},[44],{"type":25,"value":45},"Current attention is focused on the motion sensor added to MacBook and MacBook Pro’s that is used to park the hard-drive should sudden movement be detected.",{"type":20,"tag":21,"props":47,"children":48},{},[49],{"type":25,"value":50},"In true Apple fashion rather than add a simple yes/no movement sensor the device can detect tilts and both the X and Y axis as well as the current level of force.",{"type":20,"tag":21,"props":52,"children":53},{},[54],{"type":25,"value":55},"With a little imagination those enterprising third-party developers have come up with…",{"type":20,"tag":57,"props":58,"children":60},"h2",{"id":59},"sudden-motion-sensor",[61],{"type":25,"value":62},"Sudden Motion Sensor",{"type":20,"tag":21,"props":64,"children":65},{},[66],{"type":25,"value":67},"Amit Singh is a man with a mission, which is just as well because he doesn’t have a MacBook or a MacBook Pro. So how exactly he’s written a bunch of fun apps and a useful command line motion sensor tool is another matter.",{"type":20,"tag":21,"props":69,"children":70},{},[71],{"type":25,"value":72},"Amit includes some technical coverage of the sensor and how it works over the I2C bus Apple also use for temperature sensing, fan control etc.",{"type":20,"tag":21,"props":74,"children":75},{},[76,78,87],{"type":25,"value":77},"He also has a useful ",{"type":20,"tag":79,"props":80,"children":84},"a",{"href":81,"rel":82},"https://www.osxbook.com/book/bonus/chapter10/ams2hid/",[83],"nofollow",[85],{"type":25,"value":86},"command-line tool and some fun hacks",{"type":25,"value":88}," such as showing a MacBook Pro in 3D oriented as yours currently is and a window that self-adjusts itself to always be horizontal. Unfortunately, at least on my MacBook Pro, the X axis seems to be inverted and the invert X axis didn’t work so the effect fails to impress.",{"type":20,"tag":21,"props":90,"children":91},{},[92,94,101],{"type":25,"value":93},"More interesting is his page on ",{"type":20,"tag":79,"props":95,"children":98},{"href":96,"rel":97},"https://www.osxbook.com/book/bonus/chapter10/ams/",[83],[99],{"type":25,"value":100},"using the motion sensor as an input device",{"type":25,"value":102},". While not as advanced as the Nintendo Wand (it doesn’t support detection of position) it still holds some promise as he illustrates.",{"type":20,"tag":57,"props":104,"children":106},{"id":105},"macsaber",[107],{"type":25,"value":108},"MacSaber",{"type":20,"tag":21,"props":110,"children":111},{},[112,114,120],{"type":25,"value":113},"With the sensor sporting a force level it was only a matter of time before somebody used that sensor magic to come up with something like ",{"type":20,"tag":79,"props":115,"children":118},{"href":116,"rel":117},"https://isnoop.net/blog/2006/macsaber-10-released/",[83],[119],{"type":25,"value":108},{"type":25,"value":121},".",{"type":20,"tag":21,"props":123,"children":124},{},[125],{"type":25,"value":126},"The sole purpose of this app is to make your $2,000 laptop hum like a Star Wars lightsaber as you swing it dangerously around the room with a satisfying tzzzzum and sheuw.",{"type":20,"tag":21,"props":128,"children":129},{},[130],{"type":25,"value":131},"Just don’t rely on the midichorians to stop your MacBook slipping through your fingers…",{"type":20,"tag":57,"props":133,"children":135},{"id":134},"smackbook-pro",[136],{"type":25,"value":137},"SmackBook Pro",{"type":20,"tag":21,"props":139,"children":140},{},[141,143,149],{"type":25,"value":142},"You might be thinking this sensor is nothing but a curiosity but ",{"type":20,"tag":79,"props":144,"children":147},{"href":145,"rel":146},"https://blog.medallia.com/2006/05/smacbook_pro.html",[83],[148],{"type":25,"value":137},{"type":25,"value":150}," illustrates a novel use to desktop switching.",{"type":20,"tag":21,"props":152,"children":153},{},[154],{"type":25,"value":155},"Desktop switching is one of those problem areas for short cuts. You might be using any one of tens of apps and finding a good shortcut that’s not taken by any of those applications could really be a problem.",{"type":20,"tag":21,"props":157,"children":158},{},[159],{"type":25,"value":160},"SmackBook Pro’s solution is to tap the side of your machine to switch desktops and the way the new desktop flies in from the side is a great visual indicator of what has just happened as the video illustrates.",{"type":20,"tag":21,"props":162,"children":163},{},[164],{"type":25,"value":165},"I’m not sure constantly tapping the side of an LCD is good for it’s health.",{"type":20,"tag":167,"props":168,"children":169},"blockquote",{},[170],{"type":20,"tag":21,"props":171,"children":172},{},[173,175,181],{"type":25,"value":174},"Many more hacks to be found at ",{"type":20,"tag":79,"props":176,"children":178},{"href":177},"https://www.mexicanpictures.com/headingeast/2006/06/motion-sensing-and-isight-hacks-on-mac.html",[179],{"type":25,"value":180},"Raul’s blog",{"type":25,"value":121},{"type":20,"tag":21,"props":183,"children":184},{},[185],{"type":20,"tag":186,"props":187,"children":188},"em",{},[189],{"type":25,"value":190},"[)amien",{"title":192,"searchDepth":193,"depth":193,"links":194},"",2,[195,196,197],{"id":59,"depth":193,"text":62},{"id":105,"depth":193,"text":108},{"id":134,"depth":193,"text":137},"markdown","content:blog:2006:hardware_hacking_macbook_movement_sensor.md","content","blog/2006/hardware_hacking_macbook_movement_sensor.md","blog/2006/hardware_hacking_macbook_movement_sensor","md","/blog/2006/hardware_hacking_macbook_movement_sensor/",503,3,0,[209,213,217],{"title":210,"date":211,"url":212},"VTX5000: Part 4 - Communications ","2026-05-06T10:19:24.727Z","/blog/2026/vtx5000-part-4-comms-routines/",{"title":214,"date":215,"url":216},"VTX5000: Part 3 - Software ROM","2026-04-15T23:00:00.000Z","/blog/2026/vtx5000-part-3-software-rom/",{"title":218,"date":219,"url":220},"VTX5000: Part 2 - Hardware","2026-03-30T23:00:00.000Z","/blog/2026/prism-vtx5000-part-2/",[],1779264576209]