dOr:

dOr is a usability wrapper for the HTML5 deviceOrientation API. Its main features are as follows:

• dOr Cleans up noise from imprecise readings, by taking the average of a 'window' of readings
• dOr Provides a convenient interface for:
  • Accessing device orientation data, with readings stored in private data members hidden from the rest of your application
  • Throttling potentially expensive callback functions, that are frequently invoked on deviceOrientation events
  • Customizing the above functionaly. namely, average 'window' size, and throttle intervals

Usage

Use npm and browserify. (to be completed)

Instantiate dOr as follows:

  //instantiates a handler object, 10 will be the 'window' size, instead of a default of 5
  let dOr_handler = dOr(10); 

  //attaches a listener, with no throttling. this callback will respond to all deviceOrientation events
  dOr_handler.onTilt(function(dOr_data){…});

  //attaches a listener, throttling the callback at 500ms
  dOr_handler.onTilt(function(dOr_data){…}, 500);

  //returns the most recent dOr_data object (see below)
  dOr_handler.getMostRecentEvent();

The dOr object will add a deviceOrientation listener to DOM_document. If the corresponding optional paramater was passed, the callback function will be throttled.

dOr_data Specification:

dOr_data, the object passed to all callbacks, has the following properties:

event : this object is the original deviceOrientation event, with alpha, beta, and gamma properties.
x : a number from [-1, 1] mapping a degree of tilt to a gamma reading from [-90, 90]. x corresponds to the x-axis of a cartesian plane.
y : same as x, but for the y-axis. [-1, 1] is mapped to beta values of [-90, 90]. Note that beta values are in [-180, 180]: in this case dOr will assume anything above a 90-degree tilt is 'maximum tilt', and will return a value of -1 or 1.

Browser Differences:

dOr is tested in Chrome xxx.

Note that event.alpha (or dOr_data.alpha) behaves differently in Mobile Safari, as explained in this HTML5Rocks article.

As mentioned earlier, alpha, beta and gamma are determined based on the position the device is with the local earth frame. For most browsers, alpha returns the compass heading, so when the device is pointed north, alpha is zero. With Mobile Safari, alpha is based on the direction the device was pointing when device orientation was first requested. The compass heading is available in the webkitCompassHeading parameter.

Projects using dOr:

1. ThePullUpGame (an early version of dOr)