Transparent Android screen app prevents you hitting that lamp post

By | February 9, 2012, 2:41am PST

Summary: Indulge in your social media fix without colliding with objects when walking, thanks to a new Android app.

We’ve all seen it, or fallen prey to the temptation. Something incredible pops up on Twitter, you’re indulging in chat over Facebook — and you walk straight into a lamp post. Or, in another scenario, trip over an unidentified object and land face down in something unpleasant.

A new application has just hit the Android market which allows users to indulge in their social media fix, and yet refrain from injury or embarrassment.

This free app allows an Android user to keep up to date and use their smartphone while remaining aware of any impending objects around them. Simply, it turns your screen transparent, and comes equipped with a variety of different opacity settings.

By using your rear-faced camera function, opacity levels can be changed. However, transparency is not a new feature, and other apps have covered this ground. What makes this particular application different is that it does not focus on particular tasks, such as texting. Instead, it turns your entire phone transparent, removing restrictions on what you can do while walking without potentially causing yourself bodily harm.

The app isn’t perfect, but it does the job intended. While testing I did find that on higher video resolutions there is some lag — but this is to be expected when the camera, GPU transparency and normal UI are all operating at the same time.

It does like to drain battery life if used over a longer period of time, and it is best used on the lowest resolution setting. However, for occasional use, this app could come in handy.

Grab the app in the Android marketplace.

Related:

Kick off your day with ZDNet's daily e-mail newsletter. It's the freshest tech news and opinion, served hot. Get it.

Topics

London-based medical anthropologist Charlie Osborne is a journalist, graphic designer and former teacher.

Disclosure

Charlie Osborne

I have no current affiliations or relationships that are worth noting.

Biography

Charlie Osborne

Charlie Osborne, Medical Anthropologist who studied at the University of Kent, UK, is a journalist, graphic designer and former teacher.

After studying Anthropology at university, she spent several years travelling and working across Europe and the Middle East, living for periods of time in Italy and Spain. She has been involved in the running of several businesses ranging from University media and events to b2b sales, and works currently as a freelance website designer and mobile development specialist.

She has particular interests in social media, intellectual property law, data protection and online hacker organisations.

4
Comments

Join the conversation!

Just In

It's a pity such a thing is necessary
John L. Ries 9th Feb
I won't be downloading it (don't need it), but I can see how it would fill a need.
better to stop, get out of the way and do what you need to do before moving on. i've had enough of avoiding phone obsessives on the street
0 Votes
+ -
Actually, this is quite 'cool'. Need an iOS version of this ASAP!!
0 Votes
+ -
Splash
Robert Hahn 9th Feb
Since the spam filter won't allow links, you have to go to YouTube and search for "woman, fountain, texting". This video is why you need this app.
0 Votes
+ -
I won't be downloading it (don't need it), but I can see how it would fill a need.

Join the conversation!

Formatting +
BB Codes - Note: HTML is not supported in forums
  • [b] Bold [/b]
  • [i] Italic [/i]
  • [u] Underline [/u]
  • [s] Strikethrough [/s]
  • [q] "Quote" [/q]
  • [ol][*] 1. Ordered List [/ol]
  • [ul][*] · Unordered List [/ul]
  • [pre] Preformat [/pre]
  • [quote] "Blockquote" [/quote]
ie8 fix

The best of ZDNet, delivered

ZDNet Newsletters

Get the best of ZDNet delivered straight to your inbox

Facebook Activity

White Papers, Webcasts, & Resources
ie8 fix