WiiMote Head Tracking 3d Game Demo

[AwesomestSauceEver]

Man, imagine if they figured out how to use this as just a controller, play it with Marathon or Halo or something. :D

[SLBPhantom]

there is nothing wrong with wearing glasses/goggles when playing FPS games, think about the SAS/SEALs/special op teams, they all have shiny nerdy goggles, which make them so cool!

[YourPalHDee]

"the first think you need" .... wanna word check your video just 1 time before you upload it?

[shapeworkstudios1]

awesome

[tado05pro]

it only appears to be 3d for the person with the two infrared LEDs

[SunnyShahFilms]

not bad

[HDmusic1080]

go mac

[ReeferBuddy]

if this works there will be alot less fat people playing FPS games

[Raymint]

You don't need glasses for this, just a headband

[arandomJohn]

@Raymint

You are correct. Anything that would attach two infrared LEDs to your head would work. With the proper calibration routine in software they wouldn't even have to form a horizontal line when your head is in a neutral position.

[touchsmart0]

that dude does not know how to hold a gun.....has he even seen one???

[jakeburbrink]

umm... you wouldn't neccicarily need IR leds. You could use regular leds. Shown with the candle sensor bar trick. You just need a source of light. So... couldn't you just go to the hardware store and buy one of those hats with the leds in them?

just checking

[zantrua]

thats what they use

they use ir to make it invisible

[unnaturaltragedy]

I heard something about "adding textures". Nooooo! I love the retro look of that game! I don't see it for download on the site, only the Missile Command one. :(

[ShawnC777]

is this tech gonna be available to buy and if so wen

[ShawnC777]

cool

[Anenome5]

Nintendo and the others will release something like this with the next generation. It's not the sort of thing you can just tack on to the Wii. So don't worry, it'll become a reality. About 2 more years until the next consoles begin being released.

[Zintendo]

Fricken amazing, and nintendos full of dickheads their is nothing you can do about it.

[turducken321]

Why is Nintendo not taking advantage of this yet? Just want to hear some theories.

[arandomJohn]

I can tell you why I haven't done any Nintendo development. I tried to sign up for a developer account and they wouldn't let me because I didn't have an office that wasn't a home office to do the development in. Had I been able to sign up you can be sure that I would have games out on wiiWare.

I would guess that others aren't doing this because they don't understand the possibilities beyond what Johnny Lee has demo'd and they don't want to have to sell the glasses with the game.

[ShesAHoFoShoYo]

I would rent a storage unit and register it as an office and just do everything at home regardless.

[gudnikristinn]

Why do you need Nerdy glasses?

I can come up with a better idea in 10sec,

Something that goes on one of your ears for example(similar to the bluetooth mobile phone hands free thingies).

Or just a necklace and then adjust the camera to be a few inches higher then the LED´s themselves(average neck to eye distance).

Your head is not going anywhere without your neck is it?

[arandomJohn]

The glasses do two things.

One, they put the LEDs in front of your head, so that your head is less likely to block the wiiMote's view of them.

Two, they let "head tilt" be an option for control. The current setup turns with head tilt and sidesteps when you sidestep. A necklace would make that impossible.

An option that works for my requirements is a hat or headband. The glasses were just the easiest to make.

Thanks for your comment.

[chiko14june]

... LEDs on ears won't be ideal. There is a big chance of blocking the LED when the head turns.

...a necklace... When your head turn/move, I guess the necklace won't move/turn too much...

So... idea in 10 sec doesn't really work... try harder.

[chiko14june]

Your 10-sec-ideas won't work. Try harder.

[TheLydianRocks]

@gudnikristinn neckless?? stupid, how tight is it gonna have to be to ensure it moves accurately? uncomfortable at least. Ears? also silly what if people have hair covering that part? or don't like the feel ie too big too small or something, next time take 10 days instead of 10 seconds to try and come up with something :D

[ant0n321]

@gudnikristinn think about what you're saying, YOU NEED TO TUUURRNNN your neck doesnt exactly turn as well as your head.

[insanity54]

show us his view!

[tkwtube01]

WHAT IS MALLOWEEN MARSHIE DOING IN THIS GAME, and why isn't he saying "I'll scare your dad"? Go back to Homestar Runner where you belong! This is too funny!

[DanNinjaMan]

This is how the Wii SHOULD be used!

[Mudisticism]

...

Awesome!

...

[jeromote]

very cool, i want to play cod4 with this mod.

[veggievampire360]

You could just buy something called, "QualiEYE" for the PC and use that rather then a mouse.

[creaktive]

Very nice!!! But will this algorithm detect a tiny red laser spot on, for example, a colorful and agitated Quake screen?

[arandomJohn]

That depends on the brightness of the screen relative to the laser. You can calibrate the software to work with multi-color screens but it isn't as consistent right now. Another option is to use a more dangerous IR laser and a wiimote for detection.

[n1ghtvenom]

That is win. :)

[VigorousJammer]

I think the best method to make this even cooler would be to use an infrared light mounted on top of an infrared camera, that you mount on top of your TV, then you just wear a reflective headband, and reflective gloves, the refelective headband would be better than goggles, because if you turn around, it will still be tracking where you are...

Now all we need to come out are 360degree projection displays... so you can always see what's going on...

I personally would love to buy a giant cylinder

[chaOsMastaGuru]

no good, as the camera needs 2 points of light to be able to track rotation.

[goldenmaget]

it s all well and good u showin this with the cam, so why hav nt u got the tracking device mounted on the camara, so we can see the bloody thing as it should be, it just looks like a fancy zx spectrum game in that view point!!!! "come on wake up"

[arandomJohn]

You are misunderstanding how it works. It isn't doing the Johnny Lee method for making a static scene 3D. Instead headtracking is being used to navigate the environment. Because of this mounting the device to the camera would not give you the 3D effect that you seem to expect.

[Shuruto3]

What are you talking about jcl5m did it with his wii and got a realistic headtracking view!

[arandomJohn]

Here's the difference. In jcl5m's demo when you step to the side your point of view moves to the side and then stops.

In mine you step to the side to turn and you'll keep turning until you step back to the center. Does that make sense? You can't use jcl5m's method to turn, move forward, etc. I used it as an inspiration but my method is distinct from his.

jcl5m's method is great for a 3d effect but not effective for moving in an environment. Think it over...

[mj1903ikjshdj]

id rather see a 3d effect because it enhances the video experience instead of just adding another interface.

[arandomJohn]

Think it through. How are you going to move in the game world?

[desktoppirate]

with a standard controller.

[Keepemout]

Video games may save our next generation from being obese! Action games!

[spoolboyy]

34,602 views?! way to go John.

Glad to see my footage could go to good use.

-adam

[arandomJohn]

It helps when Engadget picks it up. :)

[tom3118]

I've been toying with the same idea. You should put 4 LEDs on the head so you can track 6 degrees of freedom.

[arandomJohn]

I discuss that idea on my blog. I'm holding off on that in order to use the remaining two points for a possible light saber.

[commodore256]

Sweet & L33t!!!!

[garion333]

Johnny Lee props. Nice to see.

[arandomJohn]

Got to give credit where credit is due. Johnny Lee pumps out the wiiMote ideas, and I've latched on to one of them. Well one so far. I have a lightsaber idea that is a bit more original. Also, the details of the headtracking in this demo are a bit different than what Johnny has demo and this also includes laser tracking at the same time.

[tuning54710]

this game coming soon?

[arandomJohn]

Currently this is just a tech demo. We are working on commercializing it eventually but plan to finish work on our Laser Missile Command game first.

[igob8a]

An Apple computer running a game!? This is a moment in technological history that I'll remember forever.

[arandomJohn]

lol

[BlindBanditStudios]

I've seen this before... but I was thinking about it in my head, and if Nintendo, or anyone else was going to market it, they would probably use the sensor in the wii remote.

[arandomJohn]

Yeah, if Nintendo did it they would use two WiiMotes, one for head tracking and one for shooting. I only have one WiiMote, and my Mac can only connect to one anyhow, so I used the iSight to track the laser.

[Captionboyboy]

Awesome, you should sell the idea to Nintendo and see what they do. I doubt they would use it though lol.

[etrianodyssey2]

This is revolutionary technology. No offense, but you could please try just a little harder to not make a video about it that completely sucks?

[arandomJohn]

Sorry, I'm spending time on my day job and on hacking up this game, not on making videos that don't suck. It gets the idea across and shows you how the game works, so it does what it needs to do, right? What do you want, a soundtrack?

[etrianodyssey2]

YES!!! opera music

[arandomJohn]

I don't have any!

[zzzdude9]

Oh god it's marshie

[arandomJohn]

Yes, and in the future I hope to make him a proper cylinder.