DIY Cintiq Tablet using Wii Remote

Step 6 Invert your desktop, connect VGA cable and connect wiimote via Bluetooth

Once everything is put together, connect your wiimote to your PC and run Johnny Lee's WiiMote Whiteboard Application. - http://johnnylee.net/projects/wii/

Calibrate the IR pen and voila! You have a Homemade Cintiq!

Here's a video of me using it. The only thing wrong with this arrangement is that the laptop needs to be close by so that the shortcut keys are accessible. It'd be nice to have some controls on the monitor that could be set up to act as shortcut keys. I'm thinking it might be possible to join up a second remote and bind the buttons to a few common keys.

Anyway, have fun and let me know if you do the same thing!

Comments

[Fuingurth]

Or you could use the on screen Keyboard on windows. On XP its under Accessories>Accessibility>On-Screen Keyboard.

[iProton]

Did it. Except I made an IR glove. There is a positive contact on the thumb and a negative one on the index finger, the LED is situated somewhere on the index finger's nail. I also use 2 displays, the main display, that is unaffected, is the iMac display, the second one is Asus, that I placed flat down on the table. The WiiMote stand is made out of LEGO and strapped to a coat hanger that I screwed to the bookshelf above my computer. I planned on making a second one, for 3D-ish interface work, but my current budget doesn't look forward to it.

[roryok]

LEGO solves a lot of problems =)<br /><br />What you've done sounds great, but it would need to be stationary... the advantage of the design above is you can put it on your lap and move it around without affecting tracking. <br />

[boonjin]

Hi,

Its great!

You can try to use Smoothboard http://www.smoothboard.net to get your shortcut keys. The outside screen area can be used to trigger keyboard keys.

Hope it will function well for you.

Regards,
Boon Jin

[roryok]

Hi Boon Jin Thanks, I was just looking at the smoothboard page this morning, it looks a lot more fully featured than the wiiwhiteboard app I've been using, so I'll definitely try it out tonight! However, the main reason I wanted a second wiimote hooked up was so that I could use both hands to work, instead of lifting the pen away to click on icons. For example, binding the trigger / B button to spacebar would allow me to drag the image around in photoshop, something I can't do with an image on the screen. With smoothboard, is it possible to hook up three wiimotes to a pc/laptop? Ideally I would like to have two set up pointing at the screen, and a third in my left hand for keyboard controls. Is this possible?

[boonjin]

Hi roryok, Currently, it supports up to two Wiimotes. The second Wiimote can be used as for the whiteboard portion (pointing at the screen) or as a Presenter Wiimote like you have mentioned. For your setup, why do you need an additional Wiimote to face the screen? Blockage by fingers? It already looks great. :) Regards, Boon Jin

[roryok]

Hi Boon Jin

I thought from the second picture on http://www.smoothboard.net/features that both wiimotes were pointed at the screen, and that they combined for a better viewing angle and better accuracy? The set up I have works quite well, but sometimes it gets a little jittery.

I will definitely try it out tonight, with one wiimote for tracking, and one for controls!