Play Mario Kart in Real Life with Wii Wheel

[Greg Tito]

Play Mario Kart in Real Life with Wii Wheel

A group of Japanese tinkerers has created a working go kart that controlled by a Wii Remote embedded in a Wii Wheel.

Who hasn't played Mario Kart for hours and then got into your car wishing that you could shoot turtle shells and leave banana peels for your fellow travelers? While that technology is still a bit off, thankfully, Japanese engineering outfit Kuru Kuru has put together a prototype go cart that is controlled via a Wii Remote and a laptop computer.

[vimeo=18072789]

The demonstration unit doesn't get quite up to Mario Kart-like speeds, and I don't see any blue shells or bombs being tossed around, but the proof of concept is still there. Acceleration, braking and steering is all controlled the same way as the videogame, although the steering doesn't look as responsive as it could be.

I think it is cool that one day we could go to an amusement park and use a Wii Wheel to play with real go carts. Add in some glasses that will overlay graphics with alternate reality rules (decelerating if you are hit with a shell or spin-out when hitting a banana peel) and we could seriously be playing Mario Kart in real life.

Source: Kuru Kuru labs [http://labs.kuru2jam.com/index.html]

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[Krakyn]

Or, you know, this presents great applications for personal vehicle use, commercial vehicles like forklifts or robotic arms, or even military use like ordinance removal. Pretty cool.

 

[therandombear]

I demand banana peels and blue shells now!

Imagine using bomb-omb from double dash in rush hour traffic

 

[Phlakes]

Wireless steering wheels... seems impractical.

 

[Buizel91]

Wireless steering wheels... seems impractical.

At least no one would be able to steal your car

 

[Outright Villainy]

although the steering doesn't look as responsive as it could be.

So, just like the game then?

OOH ZING.

 

[Gaderael]

Perhaps with some expertise you could play a closer to life Mario Kart using this concept as a base. Have a custom built track. Line the track with sensors able to track location and positioning of all drivers. On the Karts have a display on the steering wheel, or some sort of dash. On the pavement, have the boxes over head and when you pass under them they send a random item you can use to your Kart's display. The sensor would then shut down for a few seconds, to simulate the box disappearing in the game. Now, there would be fire buttons on the Kart's wheel, which would work just like the game, so you can tell the track (which would be using the sensors) that you are either firing your projectile forward, backward, or a holding on to it behind you to prevent getting hit by red/green shells, etc. When you fire your projectile the sensors track it's path along the course and if it hits another driver it'll momentarily stop the other driver as if they were really hit. Using the sensors ability to track location and position along the course, it can send a notification to your display when there are obstacles such as bananas and exploding boxes ahead, as well showing what other drivers are holding behind their cars.

I'm sure there is already technology out there that could make this work, but at the moment it would most likely be prohibitively expensive.

But it'd be a hell of a lot of fun.

 

[CrystalShadow]

Wireless steering wheels... seems impractical.

At least no one would be able to steal your car

Or... Someone could steal your car without even getting near it.

 

[The Diabolical Biz]

This is cool, but obviously would require lots of improvement.

Like having a proper kart and shizzle.

 

[V8 Ninja]

Why does the world make me want things that are near impossible to obtain? It makes me sad...