tuxgeek

Last week we built a head tracking device, from a project originally created by a professor at Carnegie Mellon University named Johnny Lee.

His other project, the Wiimote powered interactive whiteboard, is just as impressive and twice as useful. It turns any projector, monitor, or laptop screen into an interactive display.

Here is an eye-popping video by Dr. Lee giving an example of his interactive whiteboard technology:

After you build the infrared LED pen (detailed later in this post), you can use it just like you would your mouse. Move around windows, draw diagrams, and distract annoying kids by opening Microsoft paint and letting them have at it. It is not only a simple software toy, but it can be immensely useful as a presentation tool.

Connecting your Wiimote via Bluetooth

The first step in both of these projects is to connect your Wiimote to your PC via Bluetooth. You have two choices with this, you can connect using a 15 day free trial of a program called BlueSoleil, or you can trust windows to connect to your Wiimote and handle the connection. I have had terrible luck with BlueSoleil so I used the Windows Bluetooth connection suite. If you choose to use BlueSoleil here is a page showing what needs to be done.

I’m not a fan of trial software, so here is how I did it in Windows:

With the Bluetooth dongle of your choice (I chose a Linksys USBBT100) inserted into your computer, the new hardware wizard should detect and automatically install your dongle. When that is done there will be a Bluetooth symbol in the bottom right hand corner of your screen. Double click it and this screen should come up:

Click on Add… and the Add Bluetooth Wizard will come up. Make sure to click on the option showing that your device is ready to be connected.
After that, hold the 1 and 2 buttons on your Wiimote, this puts it in discovery mode. After the Wizard sees and adds your Wiimote, this screen will pop up:

Double click on the Nintendo peripheral:

Make sure you choose ‘Don’t use a passkey’! This is crucial. Hit next:

And you are now connected with your Wiimote. It will show up in your Devices list and all four blue lights on your Wiimote should be blinking. They will stay blinking as long as it is connected to your PC.
With that over with, 90% of the pain and suffering you will most likely have with this project are over. The first time I tried to do these projects it took me over an hour to connect my Wiimote using BlueSoleil. Finally fed up, I worked out the Windows version you see above.

Materials Required for Interactive Whiteboard

• A Windows computer* with Bluetooth and a monitor or projector
• One Wiimote
• One Infrared LED
• One AA or AAA single battery pack
• Around a foot of small gauge wire
• A pushbutton momentary switch
• Body of a pen
• Soldering gun and solder
• Wire cutter/stripper
• Electrical Tape
• Latest Wii Interactive whiteboard software

*There are some hit and miss issues with Vista. When I did this project I used XP machines; your results may vary.

Creating Interactive Whiteboard Hardware

In this section you basically create something from scratch. It’s a very simple circuit involving a power source, a switch, and an infrared LED.

Here is a preassembled pen light. It shows the simple circuit before it is compacted:

A good place to start would be to solder both of the wires onto the switch:

Then threading those wires into the body of the pen:

And then soldering the LED to both of the exposed wires. Take care to either hot glue or tape one of the terminals so that you don’t get a short circuit:

When that is completed tidy up the pen however you like, but you should have a final product:

Connect your Wiimote to your PC and place it at a distance and an angle that allows it to see all of the whiteboard. Launch the whiteboard program and go through the four point calibration. After that you are good to go!

I hope you have enjoyed this tutorial, if you have any issues with setting up either of these projects please visit Dr. Lee’s homepage and forums. There are a lot of resources there that can help with Vista issues and hardware incompatibility.

Here are some links that may prove useful: Johnny Lee’s Wiimote Project,  Interactive Whiteboard FAQ, Head Tracking FAQ.