Show HN: Virtual Knob – New Gesture for Human-Machine Interaction

2 benwu232 1 9/4/2025, 12:39:49 AM youtube.com ↗
I created a brand-new gesture that mimics knobs. Based on this, I built YAP, a media player that runs on Android and iOS. It uses knob gestures to adjust volume, brightness, and playback progress.

It's free, please try it at: App Store: https://apps.apple.com/app/y-a-p/id6744711983

Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ex3.yap

For more technical details, please read my blog: https://benwu232.github.io/posts/virtual-knobs/

https://medium.com/@benwu232/virtual-knobs-making-human-mach...

https://dev.to/benwu232/virtual-knobs-making-human-machine-i...

Please have a try and let me know what you think! Thanks!

Comments (1)

anigbrowl · 3m ago
There's a whole lot of virtual knob UX literature derived from synthesizer/effect plugin UIs. The main question I see with this is 'how does the system know what sort of knob you want to turn?' or conversely 'how does the user know what knobs are available without a knobby user interface?'

My hunch is that you'll find most non-technical users don't like highly skeuomorphic interfaces and prefer dropdown pickers and linear controls like faders, plus not too many of them. People who do like them like them a lot, but past a certain point we buy hardware with actual knobs or other physical controls.