Mosaic creates a single screen from multiple iPhone and iPad
- Transfer
At PennApps Hackathon, a group of MIT students created an application that can do amazing things by connecting multiple iOS devices into a single interactive screen. An application that does not require any jailbreak is available free of charge in the App Store , but Mosaic plans go even further: they created an SDK that allows other developers to embed similar functionality into their own applications.
The application features are very interesting. Imagine a board game divided into four iPads, one for each player. Or an RPG where you create a map by folding several iPhone back to back. Its use for displaying ads, user terminals and POS applications is also obvious, but the prospect of its use for interactive applications using several iOS devices is what really excites the imagination.
“We talked with many casual game developers and found out that among them there is a significant interest in creating board games, because this process is quite simple,” explained Isaan Gulrajani, founder of Mosaic. “With multiple iPads, you can stack them together and get a large enough surface for playing board games or in Angry Birds, where the first player controls the birds and the second builds a fortress that the first must destroy.”
For board game lovers who want a digital version of Settlers of Catan or Warhammer, the application can fully recreate the sensations of their physical counterparts, and the flexibility and extensibility of the application make it even more attractive. Mosaic also talked with advertising agencies that believe that people will open the application only because of the novelty of this way of interacting with the device. This is a winning moment for brands and advertisers, giving the opportunity to increase the return on advertising within applications, or branded content.
“Brands can hold promotions like: 'Swipe this Starbucks coupon from one phone to another and you will both receive a dollar on your next purchase,” Gulrajani says. “It's a bit of a viral ad, and we want to use this feature to the maximum.”
The Mosaic.io application itself, rather developed as a technology demonstration, offers useful features for end users as well. You can share local or stored images on Dropbox: you can swipe them to another device and its screen will be adjusted to show the entire image. Although this feature was introduced for demonstration purposes, even limited functionality is enough to impress anyone.
The Mosaic team tested the application on ten iPhones and found that even on so many devices, the delay was negligible. This is achieved using the clock synchronization algorithm, using one synchronized clock on several devices. Gulrajani says that since the quality of the application depends on the speed of the user's Internet connection, it is suitable for video playback.
Mosaic is going to work with interested developers. They did not introduce a queuing system and process requests as they arrive. Startup spins on its own, and is going to continue in the same spirit for the foreseeable future. However, in the future plans of the company introduction of a fee for using the API based on the amount of calls required by the developer.
The application features are very interesting. Imagine a board game divided into four iPads, one for each player. Or an RPG where you create a map by folding several iPhone back to back. Its use for displaying ads, user terminals and POS applications is also obvious, but the prospect of its use for interactive applications using several iOS devices is what really excites the imagination.
“We talked with many casual game developers and found out that among them there is a significant interest in creating board games, because this process is quite simple,” explained Isaan Gulrajani, founder of Mosaic. “With multiple iPads, you can stack them together and get a large enough surface for playing board games or in Angry Birds, where the first player controls the birds and the second builds a fortress that the first must destroy.”
For board game lovers who want a digital version of Settlers of Catan or Warhammer, the application can fully recreate the sensations of their physical counterparts, and the flexibility and extensibility of the application make it even more attractive. Mosaic also talked with advertising agencies that believe that people will open the application only because of the novelty of this way of interacting with the device. This is a winning moment for brands and advertisers, giving the opportunity to increase the return on advertising within applications, or branded content.
“Brands can hold promotions like: 'Swipe this Starbucks coupon from one phone to another and you will both receive a dollar on your next purchase,” Gulrajani says. “It's a bit of a viral ad, and we want to use this feature to the maximum.”
The Mosaic.io application itself, rather developed as a technology demonstration, offers useful features for end users as well. You can share local or stored images on Dropbox: you can swipe them to another device and its screen will be adjusted to show the entire image. Although this feature was introduced for demonstration purposes, even limited functionality is enough to impress anyone.
The Mosaic team tested the application on ten iPhones and found that even on so many devices, the delay was negligible. This is achieved using the clock synchronization algorithm, using one synchronized clock on several devices. Gulrajani says that since the quality of the application depends on the speed of the user's Internet connection, it is suitable for video playback.
Mosaic is going to work with interested developers. They did not introduce a queuing system and process requests as they arrive. Startup spins on its own, and is going to continue in the same spirit for the foreseeable future. However, in the future plans of the company introduction of a fee for using the API based on the amount of calls required by the developer.
