Astro Luna Display Adds a “Camera Button”

We’re surrounded by screens. We’ve got our smartphones, our tablets, our smart TVs, our laptops, our computer monitors, our smartwatches, our in-dash entertainment systems… Wouldn’t it be nice if these screens could all live seamlessly within the same ecosystem? That’s part of the promise of the Astro Luna Display, which transforms your iPad into a second screen for your Macbook. And now it’s got a new trick up its digital sleeve, transforming your iPad’s front camera into a “button.”

Honestly, I find it a little surprising that someone hasn’t already come up with a fundamentally similar idea for a “camera button” on a tablet (or smartphone). Before we get there, though, perhaps we need a little bit of an introduction to the Astro Luna Display itself.

Basically, you plug a tiny flash drive-sized dongle into your Macbook (it’s available as USB-C or Mini DisplayPort). Then, you launch the accompanying app on your iPad. Once paired, your iPad turns into a wireless second display for your MacBook, just as if you connected a second wired display the more traditional way. Your iPad turns into an expanded desktop. Full touch support, including for Apple Pencil, works too.

That’s pretty remarkable, especially seing how there is no touchscreen-enabled Macbook yet. And yes, it works with your other Macs too, in case you’re running a Mac Pro or a Mac Mini. You can also get the iPad to talk to your Mac over Wi-Fi for Astro Luna Display to work too.

The new “Camera Button” function expands on this even further. In addition to all the touch interaction you have on your iPad through Astro Luna Display, you can also cover the front-facing camera with your finger and this effectively works as a contextual button.

It’ll bring up features and settings that would otherwise clutter up your screen, like adjusting screen brightness or altering your display arrangement. Just place your finger over the front-facing camera on your iPad. They say that they blur the image to protect your privacy. If you’d prefer, the contextual menu can also be configured so that it’s triggered when you press a volume button your iPad.

The Kickstarter campaign has attracting over $500,000 in pledges with less than three days to go, blowing way past its $30,000 goal. Nearly 7,000 people have backed the project thus far and this turn-the-camera-into-a-button is just an extra feather in their respective iPad-shaped hats.