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iPhone: the appliance of scientists
iPhone controlling optical tweezers
If you find a normal computer mouse to be just a bit too drab, you might be pleased to hear that a joint research team from Glasgow and Bristol Universities has decided to use a more stylish solution.
They used an iPhone to control their experimental holographic optical tweezers, employing it to remotely see the resulting image as well as control the particle positions through the phone’s touchscreen.
“There were no modifications required,” commented Glasgow University’s Miles Padgett. “In fact, it was actually quite simple. The iPhone is linked to our computer by free VNC (Virtual Network Computing) software, running on both the phone and the tweezing computer. This gives a two-way communication link at 5-10 Hz.”
The team, including Padgett and Mervyn Miles from Bristol University, along with key researchers Graham Gibson, David Carberry and Martin Lavery, have filed patents relating to their integration of various interfaces with their equipment.
Besides the practical benefits and the style quotient, the team basically decided to try the iPhone “because it seemed like fun!”
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