# How can I use orientation to compute position in Windows Phone 7? [closed]

I'm using the motion API and I'm trying to figure out a control scheme for the game I'm currently developing.

What I'm trying to achive is for an orienation of the device to correlate directly to a position, such that tilting the phone forward and to the left represents the top left position and back to the right would be the bottom right position.

Here are some photos that should make my intent clearer. The red dot would be the calculated position.

Tilted forward and left, upper left selected.

Tilted back and right, bottom right selected.

I also have to make sure that the algorithm takes into account left landscape and right landscape device orientations (portrait is the default so no calculations would be needed for it).

I've tried using the yaw, pitch, roll and Quaternion readings. Here's a sample of my current attempt:

// Get device facing vector
public static Vector3 GetState()
{
lock (lockable)
{
var down = Vector3.Forward;
var direction = Vector3.Transform(down, state);

switch (Orientation)
{
case Orientation.LandscapeLeft:
return Vector3.TransformNormal(direction, Matrix.CreateRotationZ(-rightAngle));
case Orientation.LandscapeRight:
return Vector3.TransformNormal(direction, Matrix.CreateRotationZ(rightAngle));
}

return direction;
}
}

• I would recommend you ask this on SO instead. It isn't directly related to gaming, and you'll probably get better answers (esp. regarding the questions on the Windows Phone API). I'll vote to transfer if you think this is a good idea. – DMan Jan 4 '12 at 2:14
• @DMan yeah maybe – Daniel Little Jan 4 '12 at 2:31
• Try multiplying accelerometer values by 1 or -1 depending on screen orientation. it worked for me. – Vector3d Aug 13 '12 at 9:50
• Cross-posted, with an accepted answer (for posterity): stackoverflow.com/questions/8721561/… – user1430 Dec 2 '13 at 16:45

Vector3 rotatedVector = Vector3.Transform(vectorToRotate, Matrix.CreateFromAxisAngle(rotationAxis, radiansToRotate));

Your approach seems to be similar, but I'm not sure what your state value is. I would recommend trying Matrix.CreateFromAxisAngle(PhoneFaceAxis, radiansToRotate);, where PhoneFaceAxis is the axis represented by the normal vector of the screen of your phone (which may be Z, judging by your code sample', and radiansToRotate would be some form of a 90 or 180 degree rotation depending on the phone's orientation.