Multi-touch Whiteboard Under 100 Dollars - Using The Wii Remote
Our new learning center is exploring for a multi-media display + smart board system. The high-end smart board / screen overlay can cost as much as the LCD or data projector itself (up to $2000-$3000 easily). Then a much cheaper and yet more powerful solution came across (thanks to Ulrich Rauch), it seems one can convert a Wii remote into a multi-point infrared reader, with a few infrared sensors, you can turn any flat surface (Plasma TV, LCD, Projector Screens and even a coffee table) into a smart board! Too good to be true eh? Yeah, that's what I thought too, until I watched this video:
The guy who invented the "Wiimote interactive white board" is Johnny Lee, the software he mentioned in the video can be found here. Not yet impressed? Well, take a look at the next video where Johnny takes this Wii Remote hack up a notch - Minority Report technology in real life for less than $100!
Comments:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVFsxev-2sk
Very cool stuff
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The Wii-mote uses Bluetooth to communicate with the Wii. In order to do what Johnny did, you need a Bluetooth adapater or computer with Bluetooth built in (most new laptops fit this bill). You take the Wii-mote, which you can buy separately, and you pair it to your computer using the Bluetooth adapter. You can then use a variety of applications to read and send data to the Wii-mote as Johnny demonstrates. Keep in mind that his work is all "in progress". None of this is simple or easy; for example, in his pen demo you'd need to solder those components together to get things going.
Thanks for the note. yes, I know we don't really need the Wii for this particular application. I was just trying to give myself a reason of buying the game console, same as Scott above. :)
Another thing we are looking at is the combination input of the Wii Nunchuk unit for 3D simulations.
We have tried the Wii remote with Open Croquet through blue tooth using DarwiinRemote in the past, worked nicely.
how do I connect the remote to the pc.?
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