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Head Tracking w/ the Wiimote

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the this-is-just-too-cool dept.

mrneutron2003 writes "This guy just doesn't know when to stop. Johnny Chung Lee graces us with yet another one of his inventive Wiimote projects. This time it involves using the Wiimote and a pair of inexpensive LED safety goggles (with the standard LED's replaced with InfraRed ones) to allow positional head tracking , achieving an effect similar to what is experienced with three dimensional displays and CAVE systems. The video dramatically illustrates the effect. Game developers take note. This simple little variation on infrared tracking could allow for some seriously immersive gameplay in the future." This guy deserves a medal.

9 of 169 comments (clear)

  1. Nintendo! Hire Johnny Lee! by LoudMusic · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Surely he's sent in his resume. That's some really cool concepting, and not that Nintendo doesn't have their own cool concepts, but this is just incredible. The best part is, it's really simple and appears to be mass producible for cheap - two things Nintendo does well already.

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    1. Re:Nintendo! Hire Johnny Lee! by LoudMusic · · Score: 3, Insightful

      i look to the right and the game view looks to the right?

      Only problem now is that i can't see the TV You need a bigger TV ...

      And besides, it's not what direction you're looking, it's what direction you're looking from. Move your whole body to the right while continuing to look at the TV and the display on the TV changes perspective. Not to mention depth of field, and distance from the TV. Did you even watch the video?

      Why am I even responding to an AC comment?
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    2. Re:Nintendo! Hire Johnny Lee! by TubeSteak · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Surely he's sent in his resume. That's some really cool concepting, and not that Nintendo doesn't have their own cool concepts, but this is just incredible. Not to harsh your buzz, but there is a reason head tracking systems are not widely popular for gaming.

      The PC Gaming landscape is littered with failed head-tracking systems. The reviews inevitably say something like "this thing is awesome, but fatiguing."

      There are eye-tracking systems that are not nearly as fatiguing, but if you've seen one, you'll understand why they haven't taken off in popularity.
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    3. Re:Nintendo! Hire Johnny Lee! by TubeSteak · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I think this is less of an issue with the Wii because the input device moves with you. The issue has nothing to do with the input device moving and everything to do with the output device (your monitor/tv) not moving.

      If you're perfectly perpendicular to your monitor, there is limited arc of motion that your head can make before the monitor is out of your direct line of sight and into your peripheral vision. This artificially limits what you can do in a game and is why head tracking systems have not replaced traditional controls for looking along the X & Y axis.

      I'm not saying there is no role for this in gaming, I think it would be great if Nintendo could make it cheaply for the Wii and developers created games that could use it effectively... but that has been tried before in PCs... without much success.
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  2. Better than a medal by cheebie · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Give this man a consulting job!!!

    Nintendo, are you listening?

  3. Re:processing power by Tom · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Which is the whole beauty of it! The second thing I thought when watching the video was whether I could possible create a small game around that concept (I'm a hobbyist game developer).

    It's so simple that you can do something with it, without having to wait for IBM, or Nintendo or any other big-$$$ company to bring out the relevant hardware in maybe 5 years.

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  4. Re:processing power by perbu · · Score: 4, Insightful

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egg_of_Columbus P.

  5. HOLY SHIT by Buzz_Litebeer · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Holy shit that was awesome, why is this guy not employed somewhere they can give hive lots of money? If I were in a gaming department for the next XBOX360 flight game or something, I would hire this dude and give him as much money as he needed to make potential customers feel as if they were inside a frigging airplane lol man that was sweet looking.

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  6. Re:it's all research, man by powerpants · · Score: 3, Insightful

    The problem with game peripherals is that the sell through rate is so low that not enough people buy them to make it worthwhile to create games that fully exploit the hardware. So even if the game is just a pair of cheap glasses with leds on them it might not sell just because of that little extra expense. Someone should figure out a way to make a game that uses this without buying any extra hardware - you might have a winner. Ummm... ever hear of Guitar Hero?