accel-point-click (project-13-b)

accel-point-click is an Android library for accelerometer-based pointing and clicking. The clicking methods were created with minimal screen occlusion in mind. It supports:

2 control modes for pointing:

• Velocity-control - Pointer acts like a ball under the effects of gravity.
• Position-control - Pointer has an initial position and tilt the device moves the pointer away from the initial position.

4 ways of clicking with minimal screen occlusion:

• Bezel Swiping - Small swipe away from any position of the device’s bezel (edge frame of the device) triggers a click.
• Floating Button - A small floating button for clicking, that can be moved around or overlayed at the bezel of the device.
• Volume Down Button - Volume down button is overridden to register a click when pressed on.
• Back Tapping - Tapping the back of the device triggers a click.

Using the library in your project

Before you can use the accel-point-click functionalities in your app, you must first download and import the library into your project. The minimum API level requirement for the library is 21.

Downloading the library

Download the accel-point-click.aar library file from the releases folder.

Importing the library into your project

To import the accel-point-click library, you must move the .AAR file into the libs folder of your app module. Create the libs folder if it does not exist.

Next, you need to update your project's build.gradle file to allow the libs folder to be tracked

allprojects {
    repositories {
        ...
        flatDir {
            dirs 'libs'
        }
        ...
    }
}

Now, update your app module's build.gradle to import the library into the app module

dependencies {
    ...
    implementation(name:'accel-point-click', ext:'aar')
    ...
}

Now you can begin using the library!

Usage

The pointer exists in a separate full screen view and is added to the activity either through the activity's code or the layout file. The following is an example of adding the pointer through code.

// Declare MouseView object as a field of the activity class
MouseView mouseView;

// In the onCreate method, instantiate the MouseView and add it the root view group of the activity
mouseView = new MouseView(this);

// This is an example of adding to a root view that is a constraint layout
ConstraintLayout constraintLayout = findViewById(R.id.root_layout);
constraintLayout.addView(mouseView, -1, MouseView.getFullScreenConstraintLayoutParams());

// Set the clicking target for the MouseView
mouseView.setClickingTargetView(findViewById(R.id.root_layout));

The following lifecycle methods of the activity will need to be overriden. It ensures that resources are freed up when the application is not running.

@Override
protected void onPause() {
    super.onPause();
    mouseView.pause();
}

@Override
protected void onResume() {
    super.onResume();
    mouseView.resume();
}

Customising pointer control method

Setting the control mode

// For position-control
mouseView.enablePositionControl(true);

// For velocity-control
mouseView.enablePositionControl(false);

Configuring tilt gain settings, the settings which determines the step sizes of the pointer

// For position-control
mouseView.setPosTiltGain(tiltGain);

// For velocity-control
mouseView.setVelTiltGain(tiltGain);

More customisation options

// Sets the bitmap of the pointer
mouseView.setMouseBitmap(bitmap);

// Sets the reference pitch added to the rest pitch of 0, when the device is laid flat
mouseView.setRefPitch(refPitch);
// same as setRefPitch but the refPitch value is the current pitch of the device
mouseView.calibratePitch();

// Sets the initial point of the pointer
mouseView.setXReference(xRef);
mouseView.setYReference(yRef);

// Enables recalibration of the pointer using the volume up button
mouseView.enableRecalibrationByVolumeUp(true);

Customising pointer clicking method

Choosing the clicking method for the pointer

// Bezel Swiping
mouseView.setClickingMethod(ClickingMethod.BEZEL_SWIPE);

// Floating Button
MovableFloatingActionButton movableButtonView = new MovableFloatingActionButton(this);
constraintLayout.addView(movableButtonView, constraintLayout.getChildCount(),MouseView.getFabConstraintLayoutParams(100,0));
mouseView.setMovableFloatingActionButton(movableButtonView);
mouseView.setClickingMethod(ClickingMethod.FLOATING_BUTTON);

// Volume Down Button
mouseView.setClickingMethod(ClickingMethod.VOLUME_DOWN);

// Back Tapping
mouseView.setClickingMethod(ClickingMethod.BACK_TAP);

Back Tapping requires the installation of a separate application to work. The application will need to be launch and will start a service that will listen to back taps. You will need to click Start BTAP Service, then give it the appropriate permissions by opening the settings.

Customising the movable floating button

There are 3 customization options for the movable floating button.

// Set Floating Button Color
// Default color is cyan
movableButtonView.setButtonColor(Color.CYAN);       // Give an int value of a color that you want

// Set Floating Button Size
// Default size is 200
movableButtonView.setButtonSize(200);               // Give an int value of the preffered button size in pixels

// Set Floating Button Opacity 
// Default opacity is 0.1f
movableButtonView.setButtonOpacity(0.1f);           // To set the opacity, give a floating point value between 0-1.

Demo Application

The Accel World demo application is used to test the functionalities provided by the accel-point-click libray. The minimum API level requirement for the application is 21.

Installation guide

Download the accel-world.apk file from the releases folder. Run the apk on your device to install the application.

Note

• Back Tapping to click requires the installation of a separate application to work. The application will need to be launch and will start a service that will listen to back taps. You will need to click Start BTAP Service, then give it the appropriate permissions by opening the settings.
• Volume up button will recalibrate the pointer in the different scenarios of the application.

Changes from Project Plan

• Added position-control of accelerometer-based pointer
• Added the ability to recalibrate the accelerometer so that the accelerometer can be used in any position comfortably
• Demo application now demonstrates the library with 3 different scenarios (Wikipedia page, Number dial pad, Keyboard)
  • Instead of a screen with circular button targets of different clusterings (distance away from another button) and sizes
  • Demo application is still used for testing, so the independent variables {Target Size, Clustered} will change to {Scenario}