Comments on: Wiimote IR finger tracking

By: ur2muchr

ur2muchr — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 20:54:25 +0000

does anyone know a good “how to” site for creating an infrared LED array like the one in the video??

By: bulldozer

bulldozer — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 02:55:42 +0000

I’ve been wondering if it is possible to drill a few holes into the front of the casing and put some LEDs inside and wire them to the power of the wiimote. If you use reflective tape it might be enough power for the wiimote to sense it. This way we wouldn’t need two devices to get one task done. A switch for the leds would of course be cool too.

This way you can use it for finger tracking or if you stick reflective tape to your screen you can use it as a “regular” wiimote.

By: Mihai

Mihai — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 19:02:52 +0000

This is a brilliant idea, so simple and so effective.

One good application for this might be to replace drawing-tablets for graphics programs. I'm not sure if the same kind of level of control can be achieved, but it might have advantages for some people.

And maybe Nintendo picks up on this and creates gloves and games specifically designed for this kind of use.

By: JtM

JtM — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 13:22:04 +0000

“how would one simulate button clicks and selection?”

You could simply detect when a marker disappears and appears in quick succession, i.e., use your fingers like triggers (hiding the reflective patch) to activate mouse clicks. This doesn’t solve the problem of selection (i.e., you can’t click and drag) but it would at least allow for simple forms of interaction.

You could even use the distance of fingers to the screen (the size of the blobs) for applications that require pressure sensitivity.

By: zsbMich

zsbMich — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 00:39:52 +0000

This is an awesome add-on to the project I’m working on. I’ve already connected the Wiimote to the PC via Bluetooth software and coded an app to emulate mouse and keyboard messages.

Being able to set the remote down and use my hands is an awesome concept. I only see one problem, how would one simulate button clicks and selection? I use the buttons on the remote and nunchuck. This hack would allow for camera movement and such, but not much else in terms of interaction….still awesome though =)

By: Chris E.

Chris E. — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 05:12:45 +0000

You are thinking of Microsoft’s Photosynth. If someone got this finger tracking set up with Photosynth I would just might have to purchase a Wii… Just kidding, but yeah, the remote is cool.

By: Angus

Angus — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 02:46:59 +0000

has anyone seen that program that’s being developed, and it’s basically a mosaic, but i don’t think the zoomed out version looks like anything. anyway, it can take hundreds of high res pictures, and put them all at your fingertips to zoom in and out, and pan around.

you may have no idea what i’m talking about, but this finger tracker would be perfect for it

By: Johnny Lee

Johnny Lee — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 09:53:18 +0000

Yeah, version 1 were with little IR LED lights. It definitely works nicely and at even futher distances. LEDs happen to fit perfectly into the shell of a BIC pen, so it’s super easy to make “IR pens” you can draw in the air with. But, you have the bulk of a switch and battery/wires.

I just the idea of just waving your fingers was a bit “sexier”. So, this is version 2.

By: The Steven

The Steven — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 09:50:46 +0000

I can see this working well for mapping apps, image manipulation, or even better with BumpTop…. Also, why not sew the retro-reflective to the fingertips of gloves?

By: natrium42

natrium42 — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 06:06:45 +0000

It’s better to use IR LEDs on the fingers as the posters above have suggested. High power IR light can be dangerous to the eyes because the pupil doesn’t contract with IR light. It depends on the power of the IR array, of course, but better to be on the safe side.

A pretty cool hack and nice demo.

By: gm

gm — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 03:42:45 +0000

This is hackaday, build your own IR fingerlights!
(it’s only a battery, a resistor and an ir led… possibly a switch if you like)

By: Sgt Pyroman

Sgt Pyroman — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 03:30:18 +0000

Kind of reminds me of a talk that Jeff Han did at the 2006 TED conference (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLhMVNdplJc), except that the Wiimote finger tracking is a whole lot more cost-effective. All we need now is for this to catch on so that people can create software that utilizes this technology to its full potential.

By: Connor

Connor — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 02:58:55 +0000

Interesting and simple. Really not a complicated hack in any way and not really useful without further software but… interesting… I can just see myself hacking a wii controller to make a modded power glove, using my finger to own on first person shooters. I don’t really think this is very amazing, but it got me thinking a bit.

By: monopole

monopole — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 02:49:08 +0000

John@1:
My fave PC software for the WiiMote:
http://onakasuita.org/wii/index-e.html

Note that rather than rely on retroreflective tape you could always use IR fingerlights:
Expensive ones:
http://www.seitzinc.com/shop/page3.html (FL_7)
or get some cheap 'rave' fingerlights:
http://glitterbuglights.com/WhatsNew.html
and change out the visible LEDs for IR.

By: John

John — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 02:18:55 +0000

Anyone have any more info on this? Wiimote software for PC’s and the like? This could lead to alot of cool stuff