Mobile phones are getting more and more complex and have become far more than just communication tools for some years now. Therefore, researchers all over the world are trying to find extra functions that can be integrated into cell phones, mainly wishing to simplify and/or improve various everyday tasks and activities.

A group of UK researchers are currently developing a new software that can allow a mobile phone with built-in camera to work as a 3D mouse for PC screens or other types of displays. Nick Pears of York University, together with Patrick Olivier and Dan Jackson from the Newcastle University, are the ones who work on this new concept that aims to enable mobile interaction with both PC screens and large public displays.

To control the content displayed on a screen, users would just need to aim the phone's camera at it and connect via Bluetooth with the computer operating the respective screen. Using this connection, the phone sends its coordinates to the computer, becoming a device that has the same function a standard mouse has for a PC. In other words, moving and clicking the phone's buttons will allow you to move on the screen and manipulate the displayed data. This might remind you of the Nintendo Wii controller, as it relies on a similar concept, but the difference is that with a cell phone using the new technology we will be able to control much more than just a game menu or in-game moves.

The UK researchers have already created a prototype of the software that was integrated into a camera phone and works with a desktop computer. The phone successfully substitutes a conventional mouse, therefore it can be used to control any function that is normally accessible via the PC's screen. The new software works with Windows Mobile and Symbian and will probably be customized for other mobile operating systems too.

Since the new technology is currently under testing, there are many issues that need to be solved. But we're waiting for the day when people will be able to use their phones to get various information from a public display or purchase items like movie or plane tickets just by waving the handset and pushing a few buttons.