Free iOS Physics App Calculates Velocity from Video

  • By Dan Thompson
  • 09/21/10

Vernier Video Physics uses video data to calculate velocity over time.

Vernier Software & Technology has rolled out a new application that works with the iPod touch, iPad, or iPhone to collect physics data.

An Oregon-based company founded in 1981, Vernier Software & Technology started out selling data collection software with manuals that provided directions for building sensors. Today, the company offers software, sensors, lab books, interfaces, and lab equipment.

The company's new application, Vernier Video Physics, uses the video recorder of an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch to capture an object in motion, such as a baseball thrown through the air, and mark that object's position frame by frame. After receiving the distance the object has traveled, the application creates graphs for position, trajectory, and velocity.

Features include the ability adjust the video's scale around the known size of an object and the ability to export video with appended graphs to a photo library.

Data, video, and graphs marked or created by the application are compatible with Vernier's Logger Pro software, the data-collection program that Vernier Video Physics is based on.

Vernier Video Physics runs on iOS 4 devices and can be downloaded for free from the iTunes App Store.

Further information is available here.

About the Author

Dan Thompson is a freelance writer based in Brea, CA. He can be reached here.

Featured

  • horizontal stack of U.S. dollar bills breaking in half

    ED Abruptly Cancels ESSER Funding Extensions

    The Department of Education has moved to close the door on COVID relief funding for schools, declaring that "extending deadlines for COVID-related grants, which are in fact taxpayer funds, years after the COVID pandemic ended is not consistent with the Department’s priorities and thus not a worthwhile exercise of its discretion."

  • illustration of a human head with a glowing neural network in the brain, connected to tech icons on a cool blue-gray background

    Meta Introduces Stand-Alone AI App

    Meta Platforms has launched a stand-alone artificial intelligence app built on its proprietary Llama 4 model, intensifying the competitive race in generative AI alongside OpenAI, Google, Anthropic, and xAI.

  • The AI Show

    Register for Free to Attend the World's Greatest Show for All Things AI in EDU

    The AI Show @ ASU+GSV, held April 5–7, 2025, at the San Diego Convention Center, is a free event designed to help educators, students, and parents navigate AI's role in education. Featuring hands-on workshops, AI-powered networking, live demos from 125+ EdTech exhibitors, and keynote speakers like Colin Kaepernick and Stevie Van Zandt, the event offers practical insights into AI-driven teaching, learning, and career opportunities. Attendees will gain actionable strategies to integrate AI into classrooms while exploring innovations that promote equity, accessibility, and student success.

  • robot waving

    Copilot Updates Aim to Personalize AI

    Microsoft has introduced a range of updates to its Copilot platform, marking a new phase in its effort to deliver what it calls a "true AI companion" that adapts to individual users' needs, preferences and routines.