Saturday, March 20, 2010

Bloggaday 34 – Wii Whiteboard

Bloggaday 34 – Wii Whiteboard

Yesterday, I was trying to figure out where all of my space was a ton my laptop. I found out over 80 GB was located in my iTunes folders. A big contributor was my podcast folder. My biggest space sinks were Scam School, The 40 Year Old Boy, Scott Sigler and Ted Talks.
Hey, I haven’t even watched those TED talks! So, I started going through them. The first video I watched was “Creating tech marvels out of a $40 Wii Remote - Johnny Lee (2008)” I just can’t find it to give you the actuall URL, but here is the feed ad link to iTunes. http://feeds.feedburner.com/TEDTalks_video and http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/tedtalks-video/id160892972 .
When my dad saw these types of setups on a television show, he loved it. I decide to do this. I looked at the walkthrough at http://www.instructables.com/id/In-depth-Wiimote-Whiteboard-How-to/ and extrapolated my own walkthrough. The following is really just about identical to what is there, just a slightly different setup. All credit goes to them though.
I still need to go to radioshack and pick up the LED, wire, switch, and battery holder. After that, I’ll borrow a Wiimote from my niece or nephew, then I’ll give an update to how it works.

Before I get to the How to, here are some helpful links to do this yourself

http://www.instructables.com/id/In-depth-Wiimote-Whiteboard-How-to/
http://www.wiimoteproject.com/index.php?action=downloads;cat=1
http://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Vishay/TSAL6400/?qs=oSAwVt7aKTHCOCv1ythi7g%3d%3d
http://johnnylee.net/projects/wii/
http://www.instructables.com/id/In-depth-Wiimote-Whiteboard-How-to/

My How-to
I. Get
A. Physical
Wiimote
Infrared LED
Momentary Switch
Wire for Circuits
AAA Battery
AAA Battery holder
Large Highlighter
Electrical tape
Computer w/ monitor
Wire Cutter
USB Bluetooth connector (if your computer doesn’t already have one)
Exacto Knife
Needle Nose Pliers
Tripod
Projector w/ board
Rubber bands
Pre-made infrared pen

B. Software
Download the Whiteboard software here
Windows http://johnnylee.net/projects/wii/WiimoteWhiteboardv03.zip
Mac http://www.uweschmidt.org/files/WiimoteWhiteboard.dmg
Download Bluesoleil if your computer (mac) or Bluetooth USB connector DOESN’T have Bluetooth software. Here http://bluesoleil.com/download/
II. Infrared Pen construction
A. Use needle nose pliers to pull tail out and remove the innards.
B. Split the highlighter in half lengthwise. I used a good pair of scissors, but you may be able to use an exacto knife
C. Wire the LED to the switch, battery, back to LED and tape it all in the highlighter.
III. Bluetooth Connection
A. Bluesoleil
Windows
Plug in your Bluetooth connector.
Open Bluesoleil
Push buttons 1 and 2 on Wiimote
While the 4 blue lights flash
Click on the orange circle in Bluesoleil
Click the Wii icon and follow prompts
Mac
Use Bluetooth application and follow prompts
B. Open Wiimote Whiteboard application
IV. Wiimote Placement
A. Screen or small projection surface
20 inch screen
Note the Wiimote’s 45 degree angle
Halfway up the screen
8-16” off center and opposite from the hand used
3 feet back
B. Larger projection screens
Can place Wiimote on the projector
Otherwise
3-5 feet off center
5-8 feet back
V. Calibration
A. Open Wiimote
Hit “Calibrate”
Go through the step by activating the light at crosshairs.

Listening to
TED Talks

Twitter Tag


As Always, you can find my posts at these convenient interwebs
http://twitter.com/daviddysart Wit in 140 characters
http://daviddysart.tumblr.com/ The best all-in-one FEANBA feed
http://thebloggaday.blogspot.com/ Straight cut Bloggaday. Start tapping that vein
http://www.facebook.com/thedaviddysart?ref=sgm if you can find my notes or +friend

Youtube Awesomeness
http://www.youtube.com/user/DavidDysart

For the Piccaday
http://s1000.photobucket.com/albums/af128/daviddysart/Piccaday/ Mass me by the month
http://thepiccaday.blogspot.com/ Me paced out by the day.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/daviddysart/sets/72157623465996877/ Like witches at black masses







No comments:

Post a Comment