Wii Sensor Bar Roundup

Johnathan Rush 29 Nov, 2006 at 11:21am ET Article published in Tech

If you’ve already gotten your hot hands (but hopefully not your butterfingers) 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 instead of the sensor bar for your IR source. Or candles.
If candles aren’t the most ideal wireless solution, you can build your own sensor bar from scratch, or make a battery pack for the original sensor bar.

With so many TVs and windows falling victim to Wiimissles, the best modification to your gaming experience might just be wearing some gloves.

Source: Engadget

Comments

29 Nov 2006 ~ 11:37am primesuspect
29 Nov 2006 ~ 12:54pm profdlp Boy, you get a little bit of everything when you read the Short-Media News.
29 Nov 2006 ~ 1:26pm Garg

profdlp wrote:

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

Not surprisingly, this isn't the first time 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.
29 Nov 2006 ~ 5:41pm BuddyJ Garg, why are you searching for astroglide?
30 Nov 2006 ~ 12:32pm CyrixInstead Brilliant! (Not the AstroGlide, whatever that is!)

~Cyrix
30 Nov 2006 ~ 3:53pm Sledgehammer70 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
30 Nov 2006 ~ 4:42pm primesuspect 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
30 Nov 2006 ~ 5:10pm Sledgehammer70 I can't wait for the Japanese tournaments with the Wii... it will be like Golfers hitting golf balls into crowds
2 Dec 2006 ~ 10:54am clear_darkness 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.
2 Dec 2006 ~ 11:18am Garg

primesuspect wrote:

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

clear_darkness wrote:

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 .

At least any damage I do is to Mother Nature or my own person, and not my TV or sliding patio door.
2 Dec 2006 ~ 6:22pm primesuspect

clear_darkness wrote:

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

and i love the wii..

/debunks theory.