Head Tracking w/ the Wiimote [Slashdot]

[DP ServBot]

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.Read more of this story (http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/12/23/1359259&from=rss) at Slashdot.
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[PapaStu]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jd3-eiid-Uw

This is the specific video.

I saw this earlier and its AMAZING. If developers did this it really would open up these games to possibly incredible levels.

[Cryomancer]

That's pretty damn rad. This could work well with that Chaotix special stage maybe, things like that.

[Poofta!]

this is amazing

[roushimsx]

If developers did this it really would open up these games to possibly incredible levels.

Better yet, we could finally get some home ports of Police 9/11 1+2.

How did the PS2 version of the first game turn out, anyway? I've never been too eager to shell out the big bucks to import it w/ its little camera thingy.

[jcalder8]

Holy Shit!
Thats amazing!!

Honestly how far away are home consoles from being able to do that?

[Dangerboy]

I could see it now...Nintendo Holodeck.

Can you imagine a Burnout where the debris actually flies out at you, or actually dodging when playing Time Crisis?

God bless ya Nintendo, you may have stumbled upon the true next generation of gaming.


HIRE THAT GUY!!

[djbeatmongrel]

by far the coolest thing i have seen. if developers of wii games use this conecpt the wii will literally put the 360 and ps3 to shame (not like it hasnt with worldwide sales).

[SaturnFan]

The Wii really needs this.

When I first heard about the wii and the motion controls, I thought..." I wonder how long before peole start turning the wii into a VR machine?" I doubt that Nintendo will take note of this guy though. I'm sure they have already known/thought of this in the early wii devlopment days...One can dream though.

[PapaStu]

Better yet, we could finally get some home ports of Police 9/11 1+2.

How did the PS2 version of the first game turn out, anyway? I've never been too eager to shell out the big bucks to import it w/ its little camera thingy.

I had kept hoping that we'd get a US release for them and totally forgot all about them. I'm pretty sure they didn't fare all that well because if they did, we'd have gotten a US release if they just bundled a camera with the thing (and no gun).

[studvicious]

I wasn't expecting much when I clicked on that link but that video blew my mind. Simply incredible. I would love to play some games like that.

[roushimsx]

I had kept hoping that we'd get a US release for them and totally forgot all about them. I'm pretty sure they didn't fare all that well because if they did, we'd have gotten a US release if they just bundled a camera with the thing (and no gun).

I did a little googling around and it looks like you have to use the konami hyper blaster and have to use the capture eye... if they did a rerelease that was compatible with the GunCon/GunCon2 and EyeToy, I'd be all over it. As it is, I saw one auction up on eBay for the whole kit sitting at a BIN of like $180... :(

The Wii or PS3 would be the perfect platforms to pull this off on (the GunCon3 can handle the motion tracking required), but something tells me Konami isn't interested in trying it.

[Cryomancer]

Shame too, I'd be interested in it. That's a fun fuckin game.

[Rob2600]

by far the coolest thing i have seen. if developers of wii games use this conecpt the wii will literally put the 360 and ps3 to shame (not like it hasnt with worldwide sales).

Guess what? "During a session given by Electronic Arts discussing the development of Boom Blox at the Game Developers Conference today it was revealed that head tracking will be included in the game as a hidden Easter Egg."

IGN.com - GDC 2008: Boom Blox to Track Heads (http://wii.ign.com/articles/854/854102p1.html)

[roushimsx]

Guess what? "During a session given by Electronic Arts discussing the development of Boom Blox at the Game Developers Conference today it was revealed that head tracking will be included in the game as a hidden Easter Egg."

IGN.com - GDC 2008: Boom Blox to Track Heads (http://wii.ign.com/articles/854/854102p1.html)

Between this and then the demonstration of doing the same with the Playstation Eye, I've got high hopes on it actually catching on. That'd just rock.

Time to mod some safety glasses before the game come out. :)

[djbeatmongrel]

man i am excited

[Rob2600]

Here's an excellent audio interview with Johnny Chung Lee (known for his experiments with the Wii remote):

The Wiire podcast episode 93 (http://www.thewiire.com/podcast.php?id=95)

He talks about a lot of different and very interesting things regarding the Wii remote. One in particular is that there's nothing wrong with the Wii remote's hardware; in fact, it's very good! It's the programmers that are still getting used to interpreting the complex motion data and implementing it better in games. So, motion controls will continue to improve with time in the software.


Here's Johnny Chung Lee's web site:

Johnny Chung Lee - Projects - Wii (http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~johnny/projects/wii/)

"As of September 2007, Nintendo has sold over 13 million Wii game consoles. This significantly exceeds the number of Tablet PCs in use today according to even the most generous estimates of Tablet PC sales. This makes the Wii Remote one of the most common computer input devices in the world. It also happens to be one of the most sophisticated. It contains a 1024x768 infrared camera with built-in hardware blob tracking of up to 4 points at 100Hz. This significantly out performs any PC 'webcam' available today."

He has a few videos on his site which show really cool projects and capabilities of the Wii remote.

[DJ Daishi]

someone needs to tell him to make a fuckin game already!

[blissfulnoise]

I have to admit; the video is very cool.

I'd be interested in how this can be turned into a sophisticated game mechanic instead of just a tech demo.

And at the risk of incurring the ire of the masses, it does make me sad that with the Wii's limited hardware specs it could dampen the experience depending on what route the developers go.

Gears of War/Resistance + Headtracking = Amazing looking.
Metroid Prime 3 + Headtracking = Headache inducing.

[DJ Daishi]

I have to admit; the video is very cool.

I'd be interested in how this can be turned into a sophisticated game mechanic instead of just a tech demo.

And at the risk of incurring the ire of the masses, it does make me sad that with the Wii's limited hardware specs it could dampen the experience depending on what route the developers go.

Gears of War/Resistance + Headtracking = Amazing looking.
Metroid Prime 3 + Headtracking = Headache inducing.

I would love to see something like that in the future...xbox720 maybe?

[Rob2600]

I just saw this video and thought it was great:

YouTube - Johnny Lee: Wii Remote hacks (live presentation with audience) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QgKCrGvShZs)

[Press_Start]

Surprised Nintendo hasn't hired him as an exec in their development department yet.