Loading ...Johnny Lee is at it again. We blogged about his first invention (using the IR-sensing capabilities of the Bluetooth Nintendo Wii controller), which was a Minority Report-esque multi-touch display that you could manipulate with your fingers.
Now it looks like he’s refined his ideas a bit further. Modifying a typical Bic Pen to include a power source, a button and a LED light on the tip. He then projects a picture onto the wall using a standard projector and placing the Wiimote off to the side of the screen so it can “see” the entire screen and his hands, he runs a 4-pt calibration to define the edges of the screen. From there, the software he wrote to interpret the signals from the Wiimote allows him to interact with his desktop just like a Wacom tablet would.
I could imagine a refined/high-accuracy version of something like this could drastically change how artists work on a computer or desktop publishing. You could simply use a pen on a wall-sized image of your artwork or hell… even your fingers.
I suppose you loose the pressure-sensitivity though.
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December 18th, 2007 at 12:21 am
really impressive, i see this guy in the nintendo staff pretty soon
anyway this technology is not new at all (but the use of the wiimote is what makes it different).
MPX video (multitouch)
http://wearables.unisa.edu.au/mpx/?q=node/86
work great with a program like lowfat (a linux 3d picture browser)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B595KCi_Fgc
using just a webcam to control a pc:
http://vision.eng.shu.ac.uk/mediawiki/index.php/Interactive_Camera-Projector_System
they have a vid demonstrating but it lags since they use a cheap and slow fps webcam compared to the one used in the wiimote video over here.
is very cool, since it’s like using a wiimote to control your pc without a wiimote :p
anyway congrats to Johnny Lee for making a great demonstration.
April 27th, 2008 at 4:44 pm
Awesome! Now I don’t have to buy a Wacom tablet. =P
How can I get the infrared sensor for a pen though?
April 27th, 2008 at 9:32 pm
It’s naive of you to speak of him as though he invented the idea, digital whiteboards, or “Smartboards” have been around for awhile and aren’t a new idea. It is ignorant of you to say
“I could imagine a refined/high-accuracy version of something like this could drastically change how artists work on a computer or desktop publishing. You could simply use a pen on a wall-sized image of your artwork or hell… even your fingers.”
When something of that nature already exists. Not to downplay his creation; he’s a genius for being able to do that but you should give him credit for the idea because it is not his. And although he does create a low cost “Touch table top” or “Smartboard” he doesn’t figure in the 2,000 dollar projector you also have to buy, it’s not like any one with a Wii could just pick up some LEDs and a pen and have a large smartboard. Regardless, this is impressive but you’re ignorance and his half-truths should be corrected.
April 27th, 2008 at 11:14 pm
Man Ishkabible ur a dick
April 28th, 2008 at 9:12 am
Yiffy, no worries, Ishkabible is an “Internet Genius”… it’s his job to single-handedly make sure that all the information on the web is correct AND look like a complete douche-bag while doing it.
+1 for Internet Geniuses!
April 29th, 2008 at 1:17 pm
Ha! These comments are almost as good as Johnny Lee’s video!
I’m a tech coordinator at a school. If I can get this to work in our classrooms, this would save us a ton of cash.
May 9th, 2008 at 7:24 am
You could have infrared rings which you put on your fingers. Instead of a button, the finger tip could be a touch-sensitive sensor which, when depressed, emits the infrared. That way you can create a projection wall which you can draw on and manipulate just be touching it with your fingers! One step closer to Minority Report ..
May 9th, 2008 at 7:53 am
Anon, interesting idea… have you tried dabbling with any of this stuff with the Wii?
May 15th, 2008 at 1:51 pm
Good idea Anon, however, like he says in the video, the WiiMote can only track 4 points at one time. So perhaps you could implement that on your pointer and thumb on both hands. That might’ve been what you meant, but I thought I’d just throw in my two cents. Or maybe two Wiimotes… i dunno if that would work though.
May 19th, 2008 at 10:17 pm
never gonna happen- like the paperless office