The Hemp-Mote

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We’re sure that almost every one of our readers has been wondering why they can’t have a hemp covered Wiimote. Well, [Dhreck] got tired of waiting and made one himself. This isn’t just as simple as covering a Wiimote with hemp chord. Major modifications had to be made to keep it from getting too bulky. [Dhreck] whittled down most of the shell, then re formed it with modeling putty. After sanding that nice and smooth and applying a nice black paint job, he started the painstaking process of wrapping it in hemp.  It still works perfectly fine, but can fray if you are too hard on it. So, if you get your hands on some hemp, take it easy on your Wii.

SwiitBoard: High Impact Wii Balance Board

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[Frits] sent us the SwiitBoard, an improvised version of the Wii balance board. He wanted to be able to do something a little higher impact than he could on the Wii balance board, and required more space to do it in too. Using two different kinds of foam and a piece of plywood, he put together the SwiitBoard.  We’re not completely clear on how he is handling direction control. He states that it is derived from gforce.x. Can anyone clarify?  Stay tuned after the break for a video of his demo software.

Continue reading “SwiitBoard: High Impact Wii Balance Board”

Wiimote Finger Tracking Music Controller

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7uLuYG62sY&fmt=18]

The Evolution Control Committee has been doing live mashup performances for many years and recently upgraded their hardware. Inspired by [Johnny Lee]’s Wiimote whiteboard, they built a rear projection display they could use during performances. It displays a dense collection of samples in Ableton Live. On each of the performer’s hands is an IR LED mounted to a thimble. By touching the thumb to the forefinger, the LED turns on. Two Wiimotes watch for these IR flashes to trigger mouse clicks. [TradeMark G] found the Ableton display too complex to navigate quickly and accurately with a mouse; this new display make things much easier and enjoyable.

[via Laughing Squid]

Cythbot, Pneumatic Guitar Hero

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Here’s yet another robot hoping to dominate the human race through the power of ROCK. Cythbot was built to demonstrate Cyth Systems machine vision systems. The device uses a camera to watch the Guitar Hero monitor and identify notes for button presses. The strum bar is then triggered after a delay. The notes are identified solely by pixel intensity since star power can cause them to change shape and color. All button presses are done using pneumatics. The whole system is self-contained and doesn’t require a separate computer for processing. Our favorite part is that the controller remains completely unmodified and the industrial light tree used to indicate notes. The team says that the pneumatics aren’t quite fast enough to hit 100%, unlike some humans. Video of the bot in action after the break. Continue reading “Cythbot, Pneumatic Guitar Hero”

Johnny Lee’s Favorite Wiimote Projects

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txtl51YDMYw&fmt=18]

There is no doubt that [Johnny Lee] is the authority on Wiimote based projects. So, when he compiles a list of his favorite Wiimote projects, we definitely pay attention. He’s organized the list as a progression of the unusual. By the time you get to ‘Chicken Head Tracking‘ at the bottom, you’ll be adequately prepared. You’re bound to get some inspiration from the list even it’s building a pigeon guided missile.

Wii64: A Nintendo 64 Stuffed Into A Wii

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File this one under “stuff that doesn’t make sense”. Someone put a Nintendo 64 into a Wii. Yes, we know you can download those games with virtual console. Maybe they did it just to look cool. Maybe a Wii case just happened to be laying there when they got some Nintendo 64 guts. Whatever the reason, it is for sale on Ebay.

[via DVICE]