Wii Remote Hacks Show the Creative Spirit

Johnny Lee, a researcher and graduate student at Carnegie Mellon University, shows the inventive spirit by using low cost modifications to common devices to create surprising applications. Recently, videos of two creative applications from Lee for the Nintendo Wii Remote (Wiimote) have been circulating on YouTube. He has also given a presentation at TED Talks to demonstrate the two techniques described below.

The Nintendo Wii Remote , a $40 device, contains a high resolution infrared (IR) camera and Bluetooth. This combination of features allows Lee to create several applications, two of which we will outline here.

The first application is an interactive digital whiteboard. By pointing the Wii Remote at the computer screen, he was able to write an application that tracked the location of a custom "digital pen", which was constructed out of about $10 in parts. See his presentation here:

The second application uses the Wii remote as a camera to track head movements to create a desktop virtual reality display. By pointing the Wii Remote away from the screen, he's able to track the position of two infrared (IR) LEDs positioned on a person's head. With this information from the remote, the screen can then calculate the position of the viewer and update the display accordingly. Watch the video to get the full effect.

We look forward to see what other cool applications that can be built using these and other devices.