FPS controller hacks getting easier

posted May 10th 2010 10:00am by Mike Szczys
filed under: peripherals hacks

It used to be a major production to build a gun-form-factor FPS controller but commercial tech has adopted many of those traditional hacks over the years. Now, [Nirav Patel] is playing Cube with a Wii zapper and a SpacePoint. All that was really required to make this happen is a patch to Cube, the open source FPS.

[Nirav] has plans to make this controller wireless using a BeagleBoard. We’re wondering if there’s support for using the Wii motion plus? We’ve seen motion plus Arduino connectivity, as well as direct PC connectivity. The Wii remote already connects to Linux, what about pulling that data down from the Bluetooth connection? If you’ve done this, send us a tip about it.

Comments [12]

tagged: cube, fps, motion plus, wii, zapper

12 Responses to FPS controller hacks getting easier

M4CGYV3R says:

May 10, 2010 at 10:44 am

This would be really cool if the pico projectors had more brightness and less cost.

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Doktor Jeep says:

May 10, 2010 at 11:06 am

This could make an excellent weapons training system.

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fartface says:

May 10, 2010 at 11:58 am

And a whole lot more expensive…

That little dim junky projector is $600.00

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PocketBrain says:

May 10, 2010 at 1:15 pm

Awesome, simply awesome. And yes, Doktor Jeep, it would make an excellent weapons training system; it reminds me a bit of a trainer made by a former employer of mine, but theirs had a built-in LCD monitor; this is slimmer and could be fit to hardware that would most accurately replicate the feel of the weapon. It would rule with a brighter projector.

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Ho0d0o/Heatgap says:

May 10, 2010 at 1:43 pm

I think this is pure novelty. Mounting an LCD makes more sense to me, at least then you always have it right in front of you with no corners or fading due to bad placement of the pico projection.

I see keeping focus and jerky movement being the bane of this idea. This is a cool idea don’t get me wrong I just don’t see it being all that fun holding your arm completely still at the right distance for this to work. FPS games can cause you to react quickly therefore jerking.

Sorry this one just doesn’t pan out for me.

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zerth says:

May 10, 2010 at 2:33 pm

@Ho0d0o

That’s why he used the microvision laser projector, it is always in focus at the distances he’s working with and thus no having to hold your arm still.

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nrp says:

May 10, 2010 at 2:37 pm

@Ho0d0o/Heatgap

It’s a laser picoprojector. There is no concept of focus; it is “in focus” at any distance.

It is mostly a novelty though, because the projector is pretty dim. It needs a smallish completely dark room to be playable.

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Physics-Dude says:

May 10, 2010 at 3:05 pm

It needs a wide angle projection.

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pRoFlT says:

May 10, 2010 at 6:55 pm

Sweet! I thought pico projectors were coming down in price? $600 seems high still. I thought around $200…yah Google shows 3 versions under $200. Almost worth it.

Doom 3D would be great with this. Flash light style projection in complete darkness!

His video doesn’t look to bad. Being tethered to a PC is probably the worst part. Need to get a wireless setup…

Like Physics-Dude said, wide angle projector. Or better yet 360 HD projector on the ceiling. With a modified “stretch mode” or “fish eye mode” so that it looks nice. Then you dont need to have it on your gun. use the gun for aiming but be able to see everything around you…. just a thought ;)

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Mike O says:

May 11, 2010 at 4:55 am

How about just mounting a light weight screen on the end of a aluminum rod and counter balance it? that way it’s always flat and in front of you and allows you to do 180 turn arounds too.

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nah! says:

May 11, 2010 at 6:19 am

either flashlight simulation or mounting the projector on the head makes sence to me
with the right lense and a bit of further coding one could create a sort of hemisphere projection with very low resolution^^

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dmf says:

May 11, 2010 at 4:46 pm

I would think that mounting a projector to a robotic ball head hung from the ceiling with a couple of cameras and having it track you. Your head controls the viewpoint and the gun would control the aiming. The whole thing would have to be in a spherical room.

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