Very cool and promising – Vernier Video Physics Review

For anyone familiar with Vernier's Logger Pro or LabQuests, you get the same kind of quality that you expect from them in this app. The app itself is pretty straightforward - record video, place the origin, set your reference length (e.g. a meter stick), and then start adding points for whatever you're measuring. The fact that it's portable in your pocket with your iPhone/iTouch more than makes up for its shortcomings; I don't teach physics any more but I've used this to determine the flow rate of a creek with a floating orange (very close to their results from their flow rate sensor) in Environmental Science and to analyze the exit velocity of the diet coke + mentos reaction as a discrepant event in Chemistry. It's a lot of fun with kids, too - just record them running by and they think it's the coolest thing ever. There are a few shortcomings to the app that would make it absolutely spectacular: - no in-app data analysis like in the LabQuest (slope, average, etc) - no data table just showing the raw data - deleting a bad data point is a pain, maybe there could be an option to confirm each point? - a zoom function would be absolutely wonderful for higher precision - the origin grid gets in the way sometimes when you're adding points, maybe it could be turned off temporarily? These are minor points compared with the capability the app gives you - you can record an event and generate your graph and cmbl file in ten minutes, when it would take much longer using an external camera and other programs. Definitely a must-have for iPhone/iTouch owning science teachers who want to make science education more hands-on!
Review by ccarman602 on Vernier Video Physics.