{"schemaVersion":1,"record":{"key":"mechanic/phone-motion--family-impulse","type":"mechanic","id":"phone-motion--family-impulse","lang":"en","title":"Thrusts, swings and stops","summary":"A jerk is detected through an acceleration peak and event duration. phyphox shows the raw signal; the game defines its recognition rule separately.","updatedAt":"2026-10-22","status":"active","url":"https://gamemechanics.pro/en/knowledge/mechanic/phone-motion--family-impulse/","jsonUrl":"https://gamemechanics.pro/api/v1/knowledge/en/mechanic/phone-motion--family-impulse.json","markdownUrl":"https://gamemechanics.pro/content/knowledge/en/mechanic/phone-motion--family-impulse.md","aliases":[],"tags":["Phone motion interactions","Mechanics catalog"],"sourceIds":["source-bdbe910fe2426deb"],"sources":[{"id":"source-bdbe910fe2426deb","title":"phyphox","url":"https://apps.apple.com/us/app/phyphox/id1127319693?uo=4","verifiedAt":null}],"sections":[{"id":"principle","title":"How it works","body":"Short movements are recognized by direction, peaks, duration and phase order. These are signs of movement, not an exact spatial trajectory."},{"id":"variants","title":"Variants","body":"### Variants and applications\n\n<a id=\"family-impulse-variants\"></a>\n\n- Single push. Action: One short burst of movement triggers an event. Application: Jump, hit a virtual object, accent, dislodge a stuck object. Sensors: Name: Accelerometer; Value: Sufficient for the specified simplified scenario under the described conditions. Limitations: Separate intentional gesture from moving the phone and accidental touch. <a id=\"variant-m017\"></a>\n- Directed jerk. Action: The initial and subsequent phases of the impulse determine the conditional direction of the gesture. Application: Character dash, card swipe, object throw, short dodge. Sensors: Name: Accelerometer + gyroscope; Meaning: Bundle of sensors for orientation, rotation and separation of movement from gravity. Limitations: With a fixed grip, A is possible; Free rotation requires orientation compensation. <a id=\"variant-m018\"></a>\n- Push forward and pull back. Action: Movement along the selected axis differs in the sign and order of acceleration. Application: Push a door, pull an object, push with a shield, interact with a lever. Sensors: Name: Accelerometer + gyroscope; Meaning: A bunch of sensors for orientation, rotation and separating movement from gravity. Limitations: This is a classification of a short gesture, not a measurement of distance to an object. <a id=\"variant-m019\"></a>\n- Raising and lowering gesture. Action: A short directional sequence is recognized as “raise” or “lower”. Application: Launching a ball, raising a platform, hooking in fishing, lowering a shield. Sensors: Name: Accelerometer + gyroscope; Meaning: A bunch of sensors for orientation, rotation and separating motion from gravity. Limitations: Do not assign absolute altitude to the accelerometer; For a simple gesture you need a given grip. <a id=\"variant-m020\"></a>\n- Swing with a swing. Action: The movement is divided into preparation and working swing. Application: Strike with a sword, racket, club or hammer; estimation of the moment of impact. Sensors: Name: Accelerometer + gyroscope; Meaning: A bunch of sensors for orientation, rotation, and separating motion from gravity. Limitations: Playing hit force is a proxy for motion cues, not physical contact force. <a id=\"variant-m021\"></a>\n- Abrupt stop. Action: After movement, the application looks for the braking phase and subsequent stability. Application: Catch a virtual object, stop the arrow, complete a blow, parry. Sensors: Name: Accelerometer + gyroscope; Meaning: Bundle of sensors for orientation, rotation and separation of motion from gravity. Limitations: One peak of braking does not prove stopping; check the short window after it. <a id=\"variant-m022\"></a>\n- Pulse gradation. Action: The amplitude and duration of the gesture select the category “soft / usually / strong”. Application: Throwing force, driving depth, note volume, playing push range. Sensors: Name: Accelerometer; Value: Sufficient for the specified simplified scenario under the described conditions. Limitations: Calibrate the range on the user and limit the maximum; do not encourage increasingly stronger movements. <a id=\"variant-m023\"></a>\n- Tapping on the body. Action: A short vibration from a light tap triggers a command. Application: Single or double signal, hidden button, rhythmic input. Sensors: Name: Accelerometer; Value: Sufficient for the specified simplified scenario under the described conditions. Limitations: Experimental: grip, case and sensor change the signal; The location of the impact cannot be reliably determined by the accelerometer alone. <a id=\"variant-m024\"></a>"},{"id":"context","title":"Context and limits","body":"96 mechanics and scenarios; Basic gestures, control schemes and derived applications are separated into layers. Examples are design ideas other than individually confirmed products."}],"relations":[],"placements":[{"catalogId":"phone-motion","id":"family-impulse","title":"Phone motion interactions","url":"https://gamemechanics.pro/en/mechanics/phone-motion/#family-impulse","categoryIds":["section-1"]}],"supersededBy":[],"attributes":{"preview":{"updatedAt":"2026-10-22","title":"Thrusts, swings and stops","description":"A jerk is detected through an acceleration peak and event duration. phyphox shows the raw signal; the game defines its recognition rule separately.","image":{"src":"images/mechanics/sensor-phyphox-1.webp","width":663,"height":1440,"crop":{"x":0,"y":522,"width":663,"height":336},"game":"phyphox","sourceUrl":"https://apps.apple.com/us/app/phyphox/id1127319693?uo=4","originalUrl":"https://is1-ssl.mzstatic.com/image/thumb/PurpleSource211/v4/db/0a/22/db0a22d8-b781-9180-4abd-6cbd103e668f/iphone-02-accelerometer.png/720x1560bb.jpg","credit":"RWTH Aachen University","rights":"© RWTH Aachen University. Developer-distributed App Store screenshot. All rights reserved; excluded from MIT and CC BY 4.0.","caption":"phyphox: a sharp peak in Y-axis acceleration","alt":"phyphox: a sharp peak in Y-axis acceleration","markers":[{"x":21,"y":43,"label":"A sharp acceleration change precedes the later oscillations"}]},"tips":["Check duration and retrigger behavior rather than a single high sample."],"examples":[{"title":"phyphox","url":"https://apps.apple.com/us/app/phyphox/id1127319693?uo=4"}]}},"endsAt":null,"provenance":"Original editorial design catalog consolidated from project discussions on 2026-10-20. Complete discussion item lists and contextual limitations are preserved; linked primary sources support specific techniques, not the entire classification. English translation was prepared with machine assistance and editorial review.","license":"CC-BY-4.0","codeLicense":"MIT","attribution":"gamemechanics.pro contributors","catalogKey":"catalog/phone-motion"}}