--- 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 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 --- # Thrusts, swings and stops id: phone-motion--family-impulse type: mechanic key: mechanic/phone-motion--family-impulse lang: en status: active url: https://gamemechanics.pro/en/knowledge/mechanic/phone-motion--family-impulse/ A jerk is detected through an acceleration peak and event duration. phyphox shows the raw signal; the game defines its recognition rule separately. ## At a glance ![phyphox: a sharp peak in Y-axis acceleration](https://gamemechanics.pro/images/mechanics/sensor-phyphox-1.webp) [phyphox](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/phyphox/id1127319693?uo=4) · © RWTH Aachen University. Developer-distributed App Store screenshot. All rights reserved; excluded from MIT and CC BY 4.0. 1. A sharp acceleration change precedes the later oscillations - Check duration and retrigger behavior rather than a single high sample. - [phyphox](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/phyphox/id1127319693?uo=4) ## How it works Short movements are recognized by direction, peaks, duration and phase order. These are signs of movement, not an exact spatial trajectory. ## Variants ### Variants and applications - 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. - 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. - 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. - 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. - 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. - 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. - 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. - 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. ## Context and limits 96 mechanics and scenarios; Basic gestures, control schemes and derived applications are separated into layers. Examples are design ideas other than individually confirmed products. ## Connected materials ## Sources and 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. - [phyphox](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/phyphox/id1127319693?uo=4) (id: source-bdbe910fe2426deb) CC-BY-4.0 · gamemechanics.pro contributors