Wii Sensor Bar Roundup [Archive]

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Gargoyle

29 Nov 2006, 4:21pm

If you've already gotten your hot hands (but hopefully not your butterfingers (http://www.short-media.com/forum/showthread.php?t=51972)) on a Wii, chances are you've been too busy playing it to think about how the Wiimote works. So we'll sum it up: the sensor bar doesn't "sense" anything. It is equipped with infrared (IR) LEDs on each side that the real sensor in the Wiimote uses to triangulate its orientation and position. A simple, elegant, and highly-moddable solution.

In fact, you can use remote controls (http://www.joystiq.com/2006/11/21/tv-remotes-demystify-wii-sensor-bar/) instead of the sensor bar for your IR source. Or candles (http://www.joystiq.com/2006/11/27/joystiq-video-candles-can-replace-wii-sensor-bar/).
If candles aren't the most ideal wireless solution, you can build your own sensor bar from scratch (http://doctabu.livejournal.com/64758.html), or make a battery pack (http://www.engadget.com/2006/11/29/mod-your-wii-sensor-bar-to-go-wireless-for-8/) for the original sensor bar.

With so many TVs (http://www.engadget.com/2006/11/21/errant-wiimote-claims-second-tvs-life/) and windows (http://www.engadget.com/2006/11/27/wiimote-launches-through-window-insurance-coverage-questionable/) falling victim to Wiimissles (http://www.engadget.com/2006/11/24/more-wiimote-related-damage-just-in-time-for-the-holidays/), the best modification to your gaming experience might just be wearing some gloves (http://www.engadget.com/2006/11/24/wii-glove-sweaty-palms-be-gone/).

http://www.short-media.com/images/newsimages/2006/November/snippingwiisensorcord.jpg

Source: Engadget (http://www.engadget.com/search/?q=wii)

primesuspect

29 Nov 2006, 4:37pm

http://www.penny-arcade.com/images/2006/20061129.jpg (http://www.penny-arcade.com)

profdlp

29 Nov 2006, 5:54pm

Boy, you get a little bit of everything when you read the Short-Media News. :range:

Gargoyle

29 Nov 2006, 6:26pm

Boy, you get a little bit of everything when you read the Short-Media News. :range:
Not surprisingly, this isn't the first time (http://www.short-media.com/forum/showthread.php?t=38750&highlight=astroglide) astroglide has been brought up in a, erm, hardware conversation here at Short-Media.

I'm just surprised that it hasn't been brought up more often, actually. Prof, you're obviously slacking on the job.

Buddy J

29 Nov 2006, 10:41pm

Garg, why are you searching for astroglide?

CyrixInstead

30 Nov 2006, 5:32pm

Brilliant! (Not the AstroGlide, whatever that is!)

~Cyrix

Sledgehammer70

30 Nov 2006, 8:53pm

I personally know a guy who jacked his brand new LCD with a Wii controller, he was even using gripped gloves... Some people just get way into games and the controller is bound to be a Wiimissle :)

primesuspect

30 Nov 2006, 9:42pm

Sledgehammer70

30 Nov 2006, 10:10pm

I can't wait for the Japanese tournaments with the Wii... it will be like Golfers hitting golf balls into crowds :)

clear_darkness

2 Dec 2006, 3:54pm

I've heard mixed opinions about the "Wii"...but it seems...the active people love it, and the people that would rather sleep or sit are not as fond of it.

As for golfing...something completely random happened to me this week that I just had to mention. I drove by a guy golfing from the median...he had apparently knocked it off the course and across the street...and he just figured he'd hit it from there. If he was in the comfort of his living room with his Revolution...he wouldn't have had that problem.

Gargoyle

2 Dec 2006, 4:18pm

I finally did it yesterday. I had a firm grip, I was playing monkey ball Disc Golf, and I got a little carried away.

LUCKILY for the wrist strap, the thing stayed in my general vicinity. It FIRED out of my hand, though.. Hard. Sans wriststrap, it would have launched into my patio doorwall, which is glass, which may have shattered :eek3:
I drove by a guy golfing from the median...he had apparently knocked it off the course and across the street...and he just figured he'd hit it from there. If he was in the comfort of his living room with his Revolution...he wouldn't have had that problem.

On the flipside, I play real disc golf, so I would never have experienced Prime's particular problem. Of course, instead I would be diving into streams, ponds, and brambles to retrieve my overpriced frisbees :D.

At least any damage I do is to Mother Nature or my own person, and not my TV or sliding patio door.

primesuspect

2 Dec 2006, 11:22pm

I've heard mixed opinions about the "Wii"...but it seems...the active people love it, and the people that would rather sleep or sit are not as fond of it.

well I would much rather sleep and definitely much rather sit. I am not what you would call an "active" person :wtf:

and i love the wii..

/debunks theory. :p