Boffins at the University of Glasgow, Scotland, have come up with a novel way for mobile phone users to tell how much battery life is left in their phone, or how many messages they have, simply by shaking it.

The Shoogle interface [apparently named after a Scots-English word for shake, although the dictionary reckons it’s more likely to be ‘shoggle’], uses a “vibrotactile display and realistic impact sonification” to tell users what’s ‘inside’ their phone.

The application taps into the motion sensors, or accelerometers, now found in some of the more high-end mobile devices and adds a sonic interface, so users don’t have to look at the screen.

Basically this means a user could tell how much battery life is left by shaking the device and listening to how much liquid is sloshing around inside. Alternatively, the user could see how many unread emails or text messages they have by listening to the number of steel balls rattling around inside.

More information and a video of the device in action is available here.