4 ms·

Low-Cost Multi-touch Whiteboard using the Wiimote (2007) [video]

49 points by jstrieb 6y ago

westurner 6y ago
"Interactive whiteboard" / "smart board" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interactive_whiteboard https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interactive_whiteboard Wii Remote > Features > Sensing: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wii_Remote#Sensing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wii_Remote#Sensing .. > Third-Party Development describes a number of applications for IR/optical tracking with an array of nonstationary emitters: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wii_Remote#Third-party_development https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wii_Remote#Third-party_develop... Augmented Reality (AR) > Technology > Tracking: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augmented_reality#Tracking https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augmented_reality#Tracking ... links to "VR positional tracking" which does have headings for "Optical" and "Sensor fusion": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VR_positional_tracking https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VR_positional_tracking
dang 6y ago
Discussed at the time: Low-Cost Multi-touch Whiteboard using the Wii Remote - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=89048 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=89048 - Dec 2007 (18 comments)
danesparza 6y ago
Here is his TED talk, too: https://www.ted.com/talks/johnny_lee_free_or_cheap_wii_remote_hacks https://www.ted.com/talks/johnny_lee_free_or_cheap_wii_remot...
AshamedCaptain 6y ago
This is how I would have liked the Leap Motion thingie to work.
makerofspoons 6y ago
I love this project. In high school I started a group in my school district to collect or buy the remotes and install these in teacher's classrooms. We installed over 200 of them! Back then there was a healthy community online of people porting the software and building and selling the infrared pens. I learned to solder for the first time turning dollar store plastic pointers into infrared pens. The best setup was to use a 3D printed clip to mount the remote to the drop ceilings in the classrooms- this made it more difficult for a student or teacher to obstruct the camera while using the board and made it harder for someone to accidentally knock the remote which would then require the teacher to recalibrate (a process involving tapping targets at the boundaries of the projected screen).
- lbotos 6y ago
  heh -- I did the same thing. I also got an old projector from a teacher and would run a whiteboard wall in my bedroom and do wall-sized photoshop. That was fun. Thanks for the memory :D
sly010 6y ago
He (Johnny Lee) also worked on the Kinect.
DoofusOfDeath 6y ago
I used to think that remote whiteboards (e.g. Google Jamboard) were a no-brainer investment for distributed development teams. Especially in the early stages of software design, where (traditionally) crowding around a real-world whiteboard has proven very productive. Now I'm not so sure. It seems like some ad hoc communication can be switched to a scheduled-presentation format, which allows the presenter to create online slides / diagrams. Pro: the presenter may think through his/her ideas more before soliciting feedback. Con: less spontaneous discussion, and harder for others to present alternative ideas. Anyone have thoughts on this?
- lbotos 6y ago
  I've been working remotely for 4 years, and there is still a need for whiteboarding, but most of us end up having a whiteboard in each office, and either point our cameras at it, or take a picture. It's way less collaborative, but most of the time it works fine.
- marcind 6y ago
  Our team had the same issues and we decided to build this app as, at least, a partial solution: ShareTheBoard.com It works particularly well if you're already accustomed to using real whiteboards (and it sounds like you are). Would love some feedback, if you get a chance to try it.
Closi 6y ago
If anyone has seen the “Pictionary Air” game advertised and sold, this is how it works but using your phone camera instead. When I originally saw that game I wondered how they could build it so cheap until I realised it was just an LED on a plastic pen.

49 points by jstrieb 6y ago

"Interactive whiteboard" / "smart board" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interactive_whiteboard https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interactive_whiteboard Wii Remote > Features > Sensing: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wii_Remote#Sensing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wii_Remote#Sensing .. > Third-Party Development describes a number of applications for IR/optical tracking with an array of nonstationary emitters: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wii_Remote#Third-party_development https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wii_Remote#Third-party_develop... Augmented Reality (AR) > Technology > Tracking: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augmented_reality#Tracking https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augmented_reality#Tracking ... links to "VR positional tracking" which does have headings for "Optical" and "Sensor fusion": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VR_positional_tracking https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VR_positional_tracking

dang 6y ago

Discussed at the time: Low-Cost Multi-touch Whiteboard using the Wii Remote - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=89048 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=89048 - Dec 2007 (18 comments)

danesparza 6y ago

Here is his TED talk, too: https://www.ted.com/talks/johnny_lee_free_or_cheap_wii_remote_hacks https://www.ted.com/talks/johnny_lee_free_or_cheap_wii_remot...

AshamedCaptain 6y ago

This is how I would have liked the Leap Motion thingie to work.

makerofspoons 6y ago

I love this project. In high school I started a group in my school district to collect or buy the remotes and install these in teacher's classrooms. We installed over 200 of them! Back then there was a healthy community online of people porting the software and building and selling the infrared pens. I learned to solder for the first time turning dollar store plastic pointers into infrared pens. The best setup was to use a 3D printed clip to mount the remote to the drop ceilings in the classrooms- this made it more difficult for a student or teacher to obstruct the camera while using the board and made it harder for someone to accidentally knock the remote which would then require the teacher to recalibrate (a process involving tapping targets at the boundaries of the projected screen).

lbotos 6y ago
heh -- I did the same thing. I also got an old projector from a teacher and would run a whiteboard wall in my bedroom and do wall-sized photoshop. That was fun. Thanks for the memory :D

sly010 6y ago

He (Johnny Lee) also worked on the Kinect.

DoofusOfDeath 6y ago

I used to think that remote whiteboards (e.g. Google Jamboard) were a no-brainer investment for distributed development teams. Especially in the early stages of software design, where (traditionally) crowding around a real-world whiteboard has proven very productive. Now I'm not so sure. It seems like some ad hoc communication can be switched to a scheduled-presentation format, which allows the presenter to create online slides / diagrams. Pro: the presenter may think through his/her ideas more before soliciting feedback. Con: less spontaneous discussion, and harder for others to present alternative ideas. Anyone have thoughts on this?

lbotos 6y ago
I've been working remotely for 4 years, and there is still a need for whiteboarding, but most of us end up having a whiteboard in each office, and either point our cameras at it, or take a picture. It's way less collaborative, but most of the time it works fine.
marcind 6y ago
Our team had the same issues and we decided to build this app as, at least, a partial solution: ShareTheBoard.com It works particularly well if you're already accustomed to using real whiteboards (and it sounds like you are). Would love some feedback, if you get a chance to try it.

Closi 6y ago

If anyone has seen the “Pictionary Air” game advertised and sold, this is how it works but using your phone camera instead. When I originally saw that game I wondered how they could build it so cheap until I realised it was just an LED on a plastic pen.