I was very interested when the Arqball Spin app first came out, and at the same time as I was amused at how people so completely misunderstood how it work. I later made my own rotating base for it, but two things were still missing when I did my first tests with that: Android support, so that I could stop using my iPad 2’s poor camera; and labelling, to be able to add labels to part of the image as it spins into view. Android support is still missing, but with the latest update to the iOS app, labelling is finally here.
The labelling process basically consists of tapping part of the image and entering some text for it. There’s a built in algorithm for moving the anchor so that it appears to be following the object’s rotation. That algorithm just makes an educated guess, though, so you can move forwards and backwards in the spin to adjust the anchor point at different levels, and the app will fill in the blanks.
The result is what you see in the interactive object above. Again, the bad image quality is due to my iPad 2 camera. The important piece here is how useful these labels can be, and I can’t wait for an Android version of the app so that I can start using this for reviews and such. An Android version is coming, so it’s just a matter of having some patience. In the meantime, playing with the updates to the iOS version is always fun. I just hope my highly slapped-together DIY stage survives long enough to be used with the Android app.
[iTunes]
