Wiimote Whiteboard
Wow, this was easier than I thought it would be. I have a Wii at home, so I grabbed one of our wiimotes and brought it to work. I stopped by a hardware store and picked up a pen flashlight for $2.99. My computer has bluetooth built in. If you don’t have a computer with it built in you will need to purchase a bluetooth adapter.
I connected the wiimote using the free download WiimoteWhiteboard for Macs (site has PC version as well). *I did figure out that I have to turn my bluetooth off and back on every time I connect.
Once it was connected I set the wiimote on the top shelf of my projector cart pointing to my non-interactive whiteboard (any flat surface can work).
I turned my projector on.
WiimoteWhiteboard includes calibration. I touched the four circles to calibrate.
That’s it! I just have to make sure that my wiimote is pointing to my screen area and my hand or my body is not blocking that signal.
Here is a link to a pdf file that helped me get started. It has great images to help you visualize the steps.
http://arch.eece.maine.edu/ideas/images/6/67/Whiteboard.pdf
At this point my district is doing some checking into this as a supported technology. No decisions have been made at this point.
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February 25, 2009 @ 10:42 am
We had success here, too! I’m going to add a few Wiimotes so that hopefully it will help when your body blocks certain areas. I also bought a pen and a tripod mounting battery cover from here: http://penteractive.us/
The mounting cover replaces the Wiimote’s battery cover and lets you put the remote on a tripod. I used a small mini tripod. That helped a LOT!
February 25, 2009 @ 11:22 am
I love my Wiimote Whiteboard. I have commented on your twitter page. http://www.youtube.com/ilovechefwilliam.
Wiipenmaker on ebay makes some great ones also!
February 25, 2009 @ 12:51 pm
OOhh. I shall have to have a go at this. Thanks for the instructions.
April 19, 2009 @ 10:06 pm
I would be happy to supply anyone with infrared pens. Please visit http://www.myinfraredpen.com for details. Have fun!
April 19, 2009 @ 10:07 pm
I am the “original” wiipenmaker