Wii Remotes Hacked for Science

[epsilon246]

So let me get this straight.

It can measure more accurately than very expensive scientific equipment and it still can't register the fact that I'm waving the damn thing?

whooaa
i firgured the wiiremote was very.. inaccurate
seeing as they had to make that motion plus attatchment...

Seems some people are confused, waving the thing around is based on the accelerometre (or however you spell it) they are usuig it's ability to judge were it is compared to a sensor, two different things.

 

[AdambotLive]

Yes, now we can play games with...

BILL NYE, THE SCIENCE GUY!

 

[JusticarPhaeton]

This goes to show that scientific laboratory equipment suppliers really *do* overcharge, after all! *laugh*

But it doesn't matter anyways, since everyone knows Science is just a trick on white people and the shamans of the steppes, plains, and mountains have hated stephen hawking for thousands of years.

 

[KDR_11k]

whooaa
i firgured the wiiremote was very.. inaccurate
seeing as they had to make that motion plus attatchment...

Motion Plus is a gyroscope, the Wiimote only includes accelerometers by default. It's simply a different sensor type that's apparently more suitable for gaming. The accuracy of the sensors generally seems to degrade the stronger the movements are, if you want to track minimal movements they might be really accurate, a person wielding the Wiimote just tends to make very quick and large movements.

 

[brunothepig]

Luxemburg tried something more tricky, measuring a body of water's evaporation, which normally requires equipment priced at $500 or more that still isn't quite accurate. Alternately, the Wii Remote's "tri-axial accelerometer and high-resolution, high-speed infrared camera" can "sense movement with better than 1 millimeter accuracy" for the cost of $40. Using LED lights on floats, Luxemburg's team was able to get real-time water level data on the cheap.

...Epic. So. Very. Epic. This is so cool. I wonder what else we could do...