Developments in Human-Computer Interaction: Motion Technology and the Wii Remote

*note: this entry may be modified with updated information in the future.

Description:

Human-computer interaction (HCI) is defined by the Association for Computing Machinery as “a discipline concerned with the design, evaluation and implementation of interactive computing systems for human use and with the study of major phenomena surrounding them.” HCI revolves around the user interface, whether the user interface is software or hardware based. Various developments in recent history have made HCI more reliable and easy to use, especially with hardware peripherals. Multi-touch surfaces provide a way for users to more naturally interact with mobile devices. Voice recognition technology is becoming more reliable and sophisticated.

One interesting piece of technology released to the general public in America about three years ago was the Nintendo Wii remote. The Wii console became a hot consumer item due to the remote’s motion sensing capability, which relied on an accelerometer, optical sensor, and blue tooth technology to interact with the console. Due to its interesting and entertaining features, the Wii remote has gained a considerable amount of support and attention by hackers and open-source programmers in hopes of allowing the remote to function with other devices, like a home computer. New software programs are released on a regular basis which takes advantage of the remote’s technology.

Objective:

• This research project will primarily focus on interactions between Nintendo’s Wii remote, which relies heavily on motion and blue-tooth technology, and a home desktop computer.
• Current open-source software designed around the use of the Wii remote will be studied and evaluated.
• If possible, modifications of different available software programs will be tested in order to evaluate changes.
• Another goal is to program an application that could perhaps use the Wii remote in a unique way. However, no specific idea is set in stone yet concerning this.
• Videos will be taken in order to display how the Wii remote is used with different software applications. Any pros and cons will be noted and displayed in the video, if possible.
• A blog will be created and regularly updated with notes on how the research is going. The videos will be available to view here as well.
• A final paper will be written on the research. The paper will give a brief introduction on what HCI is, how the Wii remote technology works, and how one can hook up a Wii remote to a PC. The objectives on this syllabus will be covered, and the questions below, as well as any future questions, will be addressed.

Questions:

• How have recent developments in HCI changed the way we interact with computers?
• Why is development involving the Wii remote popular in the open-source community?
• Are there any general pros and cons with using the Wii remote as an input device?
• What kinds of user applications seem to work best? Why?
• What kinds of user applications are difficult to use? Why?
• How easy is it for new users to get adjusted with using the Wii remote to interact with a PC?
• How difficult is programming an application for the Wii remote? What language(s) is used?

Hardware used (may vary):

Wii Remote

Blue-tooth dongle

PC

IR Array

Wii IR sensor bar

Software used:

TBD

Processes to be addressed:

How to connect a Wii remote to a PC

How to work a Wii remote with different available software applications

What software is needed to program the Wii remote

Sources and Support:

http://johnnylee.net/projects/wii

http://www.wiimoteproject.com

http://wiibrew.org