WiiFit board speaks to Linux (cnet) [LWN.net]

Over at cnet, Eric Franklin reports on a newly available Linux input device. "Case in point, Matt Cutts has connected a WiiFit balance board to a Linux box via Bluetooth. So far, all he can do is weigh himself in kilograms and move a red dot around by leaning in different directions on the balance board. [...] Not exactly exciting by any means and seriously, it's difficult for me to see how this could be applied to do something actually cool or useful. One commenter on his site speculated that one could conceivably set up the board in such a way that you could scroll down a screen, simply by by leaning back in your chair."

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WiiFit board speaks to Linux (cnet)

Posted May 25, 2009 18:05 UTC (Mon) by pr1268 (guest, #24648) [Link]

Interesting... Of course, I was more expecting an article about kernel drivers and configuration, but Cutts' article dealt with the user-space side of things (a Python script he wrote). Still, not bad.

From Franklin's article:

Will Linux users eventually be able to completely navigate their interface via the WiiFit balance board? Is that something they'd want to do? Is this the beginning of something that will lead to something incredibly cool and useful? Who knows. We'll have to wait and see where the community goes from here.

The really cool thing about Linux is that it's not necessarily what is merely appropriate/marketable to do as much as it's about what one can do. The possibilities are endless.

WiiFit board speaks to Linux (cnet)

Posted May 25, 2009 18:33 UTC (Mon) by dag- (guest, #30207) [Link] (1 responses)

At FroSCOn 2008 we presented 2 implementations (hacks on existing toolkits) for using a wiimote to give presentations. The presentation disclosed a lot of interesting features for this purpose. (Not just as an input device, but also for interacting with your audience, or even voting)

At FOSDEM 2009 we presented a complete standalone implementation, called WiiPresent. Not all features are implemented (notably IR mouse control), but most of them already are:

- wiimote rumbles to indicate how much time has passed
- wiimote leds indicate how much time is left
- mouse-mode to move mouse pointer using tilting sensors
- window-mode to instruct window manager
- application mode (default) send key-combinations depending on focus
- can also be used for multimedia apps or watching TV

You can find it here:

http://dag.wieers.com/home-made/wiipresent/

We also looked at possible use-cases for using the WiiFit, but we could not find any practical uses for the WiiFit for giving presentations :-)

WiiFit board speaks to Linux (cnet)

Posted May 25, 2009 21:35 UTC (Mon) by johill (subscriber, #25196) [Link]

> We also looked at possible use-cases for using the WiiFit, but we could not find any practical uses for the WiiFit for giving presentations :-)

but that would make presenters so much more dynamic!

WiiFit board speaks to Linux (cnet)

Posted May 25, 2009 22:34 UTC (Mon) by liljencrantz (guest, #28458) [Link] (1 responses)

I'm surprised that people question the usefulness of this. How about video games? Linux systems would be the second platform to receive this new input system, and we could make much more interesting use of it than te Wii has so far, if we want to. Snowboarding games, surfing games, super monkeyball games and dancing games. The possibilities are endless, and the crappy half finished minigames thrown out by Nintendo don't really do the device justice.

WiiFit board speaks to Linux (cnet)

Posted May 26, 2009 16:35 UTC (Tue) by Kit (guest, #55925) [Link]

>How about video games?
I was thinking the exact same thing, after all, that's what the board was created for. Using it as a general purpose imput device seems a bit silly, but there's still quite a lot of situations where special input devices will make a massive impact on the experience (like the ones you listed, and all the tilt-based games for the iPhone are a good example of this).

WiiFit board speaks to Linux (cnet)

Posted May 26, 2009 10:26 UTC (Tue) by MortenSickel (subscriber, #3238) [Link]

" it's difficult for me to see how this could be applied to do something actually cool or useful"

That is the most extreme example of lack of imagination I've ever seen. Just for a starter, what about using your body to control the pointer, that can definately be cool in gaming applications and potentially useful in various application where you for some reason cannot use the hands (e.g. because you need to hold onto something) to control the pointer.

Disclaimer: I've only read the excerpt on lwn.net, not the original text

WiiFit board speaks to Linux (cnet)

Posted May 26, 2009 15:52 UTC (Tue) by lbt (subscriber, #29672) [Link] (1 responses)

"it's difficult for me to see how this could be applied to do something actually cool or useful"

Have you ever considered how a laptop with BT and a Wii Balance board may help a physiotherapist or many other medical practitioners?

Quantitative monitoring of the balance ability of a patient?

Now do it with a LiveCD and thumb drive...

WiiFit board speaks to Linux (cnet)

Posted May 26, 2009 16:15 UTC (Tue) by dlang (guest, #313) [Link]

from a dead trivial viewpoint, the ability to have a scale that is easily tied to your computer for logging progress on a diet is a handy thing to have.

WiiFit board speaks to Linux (cnet)

Posted May 26, 2009 15:54 UTC (Tue) by dale.sykora (guest, #57981) [Link]

It would be interesting to play NeverBall with a wiifit;)

WiiFit board speaks to Linux (cnet)

Posted May 26, 2009 20:08 UTC (Tue) by AJWM (guest, #15888) [Link] (1 responses)

Tie it in to the FlightGear flight simulator and make like the Silver Surfer. ;-)

WiiFit board speaks to Linux (cnet)

Posted May 27, 2009 18:41 UTC (Wed) by liljencrantz (guest, #28458) [Link]

Best idea so far.

WiiFit board speaks to Linux (cnet)

Posted May 26, 2009 21:55 UTC (Tue) by spiro (guest, #54657) [Link]

> one could conceivably set up the board in such a way that you could scroll down a screen, simply by by leaning back in your chair.

That's cool, but a mouse with a scroll wheel costs $5 while a chair with leaning abilities is several hundred.

WiiFit board speaks to Linux (cnet)

Posted Jun 4, 2009 13:21 UTC (Thu) by ortalo (guest, #4654) [Link]

Another nifty idea: what about using the WiiFit as a supplemental biometric security device for improving authentication? (Bonus point: successful diet would imply a free day at work until successfull re-enrollment... ;-)