Using the "Wiimote" Controller in Biomedical Research

[Steve.J]

The Nintendo Wii game system revolutionized the way that people interact with the on-screen action.  Playing a game with a conventional game controller is a thumb-intensive activity, maybe with a few choice gestures thrown in once in a while.  Playing a Wii game is a whole body experience - many games cannot even be played sitting down since the input required to get the desired outcome often requires a the player to mimic the dynamics of an actual "real" player - the swing of a golf club or tennis racquet, or the backswing and timed release of a bowling ball.

The key to this truly interactive experience is the "Wiimote" technology - a wireless, rugged handheld device the size of a slim TV remote control with sensitive and responsive accelerometers and IR sensing technology.  The device's low cost, availability, and use of the Bluetooth wireless protocol helped foster an active hacker community and wide variety of applications away from the Wii gaming console.  Of course, the LabVIEW community has been right there in the middle of this activity, finding cool ways to exploit the features of this input device - watch this video by one of our application engineers here in Austin:

The application of this device in biomedical engineering could include sports medicine and rehabilitation, biomechanics research including motion analysis, shock/injury research, behavioral and cognitive research, etc.  Of course, LabVIEW is an ideal environment to acquire the sensor data and do real-time processing, data logging, and even visualization or control.  All that is needed is some code to interface to the Bluetooth resources on the PC.  Fortunately, our own Sam Shearman has put together an application note to get you started: Clicky-clicky

Download the code and give it a try - we're anxious to hear how you could use this especially in biomedical teaching or research.