W3C Generic Sensor API polyfills

This is a polyfill for Generic Sensor-based motions sensors to make migration from the old DeviceOrientationEvent/DeviceMotionEvent to the new APIs a smoother experience.

In particular, this polyfill will allow the users of modern browsers to get a feel of the new API shape before it ships more broadly.

src/motion-sensors.js implements the following interfaces:

• Sensor
• Accelerometer
• LinearAccelerationSensor
• GravitySensor
• Gyroscope
• RelativeOrientationSensor
• AbsoluteOrientationSensor

src/geolocation.js implements the following interface:

• GeolocationSensor

How to use the polyfill

• Copy src/motion-sensors.js (source) into your project, or install via npm ($ npm i motion-sensors-polyfill).
• Import the motion sensor objects in your HTML (see <script type="module"> browser support or use a polyfill to load this polyfill!):

<script type="module">
// Import the objects you need.
import {
  Gyroscope,
  AbsoluteOrientationSensor
} from './src/motion-sensors.js';

// And they're ready for use!
let gyroscope = new Gyroscope({ frequency: 15 });
let orientation = new AbsoluteOrientationSensor({ frequency: 60 });
</script>

• That's it. See AbsoluteOrientationSensor demo and RelativeOrientationSensor demo (code) for examples.

How to enable the native implementation in Chrome

Chrome 67 or later: the native implementation is enabled by default.

The Generic Sensor Extra Classes (chrome://flags/#enable-generic-sensor-extra-classes) feature flag can be activated to enable a few additional sensor types:

• AmbientLightSensor
• Magnetometer

Test suite

Run web-platform-tests with this polyfill enabled here.

Known issues

• AbsoluteOrientationSensor on iOS uses non-standard webkitCompassHeading that reports wrong readings if the device is held in its portrait-secondary orientation. Specifically, the webkitCompassHeading flips by 180 degrees when tilted only slightly.

Learn more

• Sensors For The Web article on Google's Web Fundaments - a web developer-oriented article explaining how to use the Generic Sensor-based APIs.

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