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This program allows you to use the Wii Remote (Wiimote) to turn any surface into a Low-Cost Interactive Whiteboard. It is based on Johnny Lee’s original WiimoteWhiteboard program that is written in C# and available for Windows only. My program uses Java to allow for (some) platform-independence. I also provide a Mac-only version since I’m a Mac user and this is, up to my knowledge, currently the only such program for the Mac.
For Windows only, Boon Jin has enhanced Johnny’s software and created the shareware program Smoothboard. There is also a SourceForge project that provides other implementations, but it is not getting much attention.
Check out the video and the other cool projects at Johnny Lee’s page if you have no idea what I’m talking about 
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Features in a nutshell
- Open source
- Runs on Mac OS X, Windows, and Linux
- Simple User Interface available in English, Estonian, French, German, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Slovene, and Spanish
- Camera Monitor and Calibration Details for better Wiimote placement
- Auto-connects up to 2 Wiimotes
- Right-click support, double-click assistance
- Mouse cursor smoothing
- Screen selection
- Touchpad Mode
- Update notification
- TUIO/OSC support for multitouch applications
More details in the Wiki.
Download (1.0.2)
Documentation & Support
You can post your comments, bug reports, feature requests, etc. at the bottom of this page. The latest documentation is available in the Wiki. You can also find out how you can help.
The wiimoteproject.com forums are a great resource for everything Wiimote. You may use this subforum to discuss everything related to my software. The Smoothboard Wiki also contains useful information for setting up your interactive whiteboard.
Infrared pens
You need a source of infrared (IR) light to use the software. Many people build their own IR pens for that purpose, usually by retrofitting some sort of marker. You’ll find all you need to know here. I started with a simple IR pen made from a battery clip.
There are also IR pens for sale if you don’t want to build one yourself. Several vendors sell different models, the IR Pen marketplace is a good place to get an overview.
You can use the coupon code uwe if you buy from IRPensOnline.com. This will give you a discount of $2 and I’ll get $1.
Compatibility
I only heard of few problems on Mac OS X, using the built-in stack. I also got reports from users who got the program running on Windows using either the Widcomm or BlueSoleil stack. It seems like Widcomm works better, see this post about BlueSoleil. You need to use the BlueZ stack on Linux, see the Wiki or this post for further instructions.
Issue on PowerPC Macs (excerpt from the WiiRemoteJ-README):
Note for Mac OS X PowerPC (PPC) users: you will have to delete the Wii Remote from your previous devices list in System Preferences->Bluetooth->Devices after each connection (every time you connect a given Wii Remote). Even then, the outgoing connection will still fail every other time. There is some sort of bug relating to HCI devices and Apple’s library. Luckily, it was fixed for the Intel Macs.
Further details can be found in the Wiki or the help files bundled with the application.
Hi,
did you select the secondary display in the main window and then started the calibration?
If so, what exactly didn’t work as expected?
Using the secondary display is a feature for quite some time and should work…
Uwe
Thanks for the reply!
This my work PC where I have one video output to a regular monitor and second output to LCD projector.
When I start the application it does in fact recognize I have 2 displays. So, I choose the second display (LCD) and calibrate to that screen which appears to work fine. However, when I try to draw/use mouse control nothing happens. What’s interesting is that if I turn on the camera monitor, it does show that it is tracking my light pen, but nothing is happening on the screen. On a whim, I tried calibrating my PC monitor (display 1) and everything worked fine as it should. That’s what gave me the idea to switch to make the projection screen the primary display and then everything worked fine.
I will look over everything again tomorrow to see if maybe there is a weird setting I have enabled.
Thanks!
-JJ
UWE!!!!
Thank you! That link held the solution. Now to take it to class….
Thank you again!
Hi JJ,
you might have found a bug in the software. You initially said that you’re using a PC, and I have only tested multiple monitors on a Mac.
Please send me a screenshot of the main window while both displays are attached to the computer (and not mirrored). This will show me how the two displays are arranged to one another.
Uwe
Dear sir,
I’m trying to configure the wiimote on your program. Every time I run it I always encounter this error “Bluetooth failed to initialize. There is probably a problem with your local Bluetooth Stack or API”
Can you pls help me solve this problem
Thanks
Hi Marlon,
I need more information. First of all, are you using Windows, Mac OS X, or Linux?
Uwe
Thank so much for this app!… wondering if anyone can give me some assistance with calibrating. I tried the last two versions of the wiimote whiteboard ( OS X build – wiimote whiteboard.app), using OSX 10.5.6. I have a modded mini flashlight which i took out the LED and replaced it with the IR from radioshack, also have a fingerlight, which the LED has also been replaced with the IR LED.
Not any kind of luck calibrating. tried many different positions, many different angles, with a 20in flatscreen monitor, the builtin 13.3 in macbook c2d screen, a sanyo pro xtrax projector…no luck, the IR definately works, usually i use the wii remote with OSCulator, and it work fine, with wiimote whiteboard, when i use the IR camera view i can see the IR dot steadily moving around following my movement. but when I try to calibrate it it just never works…
Calibration – usually, Ill hover the IR over the first target in the upper left corner, most of the time it will not trigger the checkmark and move to the next target. If it does, then all of the targets will appear with checks then thn immediately returns to the regular screen.
Anybody have any experience with this calibration, maybe some tips, tricks, things i can try…have spent about 5 or so hours trying to get this to work without any luck
You might try omnidazzle: http://www.omnigroup.com/. It is pretty cheap and allows you to write anywhere on your displays. You need to turn it off and on though. It also comes with a bunch of other eye candy type tools.
Cheers!
Hi,
do you have your IR flashlight turned on all time? To do the calibration, you must only activate it briefly while directly pointing at the crosshair. Just take a look at my old video to see what I mean.
Uwe
Hi,
I am using my bluetooth dongle with the Java Wiimote Whiteboard and get the following error:
“WiiRemote failed to connect!”
Not Supported winsock
Any ideas?
I have used BlueCove with my bluetooth dongle before.
Cheers
Bobby
Thank again Uwe!
cant believe i missed that one. and i just gave the projector back to my friend. well fun enough with the 20 inch…
Hi Bobby,
please read this post and take a look at the Bluetooth section in the Wiki.
Uwe
Thanks. will look into that
First off, thank you soo much for making this technology mac friendly!
Im having some trouble, in both the java and the mac versions, I cant get it to use the mouse on a secondary screen. The mouse vertical movements are registered, but the mouse stays at the edge of the computer display and never goes into the second screen. Although it works in display mirroring.
Any advice?
Hi,
this problem could be related to these posts: 1, 2, 3, 4.
Please send me a screenshot of the main window while both displays are attached to the computer (and not mirrored). This will show me how the two displays are arranged to one another and hopefully help me to reproduce the problem.
Uwe
I am an 8th grade teacher trying to get this going on my IBook G4—I can get the program to “see” my wiimote, however, I’m having a lot of trouble trying to get it to track properly–I’m also curious what programs you are using in your classrooms with your teachers. I’m really anxious to get this rolling with my 8th graders–this will be great
!! Thanks for any suggestions you might have–I appreciate it 
—
Hi,
first of all thanks for your work!
I’m a linux user, My desktop have 2 monitor 1680×1050.
I had installed your .jar with the bluecove; it can start, connect to wiimote, make a calibration with all monitor; but when i test the witheboard, i can move only vertically my mouse. If I open the IR camera monitor, i can see the pointer in the correct position on the screen. I think the problem is in the comunication from java an X server, but I don’t know what i can do.
Have idea??
Sorry for my english,
thanks Matteo
Hi Sarah,
I doubt that Jim is still reading this, so I’ll recommend to take a look at the wiimoteproject.com forums.
I might be able to help you if you elaborate on your problems.
Uwe
Hi Matteo,
this seems to be related to the other problems users are having. Please follow this post and see the posts linked in it.
Uwe
Hi Uwe,
Getting this error when trying to run WiimoteWhiteboard on my macbook.
“Bluetooth failed to initialize. There is probably a problem with your local Blutooth stack or API.”
My Setup:
MacBook Pro 2.4Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo w/2GB 667 DDR2 SDRAM
OS 10.5.5
Thanks,
Liv
Problem solved:
Clicked “Get Info” on the “WiimoteWhiteboard” Application, and checked the “Open in 32 Bit Mode”
I followed the instructions exactly to try to get this working on Linux (Ubuntu 8.10). I have bluez installed. When I run: java -jar WiimoteWhiteboard.jar
I get the following message every time and the application doesn’t start.
“Bluetooth failed to initialize. There is probably a problem with your local Bluetooth stack or API.”
Thanks,
Chad
Hi, I’m a student at Lake City High School in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. Last year our graphics design teacher retired and gave his smartboard to another teacher in the school. Our new teacher has been experimenting with the software and settings for the past few weeks. My teacher and I have gotten everything we wanted out of the program except an easy way to enter text into a field. We either have to bounce back and forth between the board at the front of the room and our laptop thats hooked to the projector in the back, or we have to use an on screen keyboard to type. We have tried unsuccessfully to use Mac’s Ink to be able to write on the board and have whatever is written translated into the field. We keep getting the error message that is telling us we must have a graphics tablet plugged in to execute the program.
I was wondering if you knew of another program that would give us similar results that we could run on OSX.
By the way, the program is awesome. Thanks for the hard work.
Hello, I am getting this error and I can’t seem to get the IR dots recognized.
It seems as though the calibration is way off. For example, I have the Wiimote pointing perpendicular to the screen and I can see points 1 and 2 are showing up in the IR monitor. I have the wii mote sitting right on top of the projector 8 feet from the wall and none of the points are showing up on the screen. If I move the WII mote around I get gets points on the screen , but they are usually clustered together and only 2 of them.
any ideas?
I am super excited to get this going , but have hit this wall. I am using a Macbook with intell, OSX 10.5. I am projecting on a wall 8 feet away.
again I have had glmmers of hope .
I once had the screen sort of calibrated but only because I waived the Wii mote all over the place to get all of the points to green.
thanks
Hello,
I am having some trouble calibrating. Seems the points are way off and even with the Wii mote sitting right on top of the projector , none of the points are visible in IR screen. If I move the Wii mote around at seriously large increments and angles, I can see the other points from time to time. Seems the screen which the computer think is there is not at all what is . I have tried reset and re-boot, I have tried the wii at different angles and distances , I had some small glimmers of hope right at the beginning , but now seem to be locked into and bad configuration.
I am trying to use a Macbook, Intell duo, with Leopord current.
any suggestions on how I can get the calibration points up?
thanks
OK, so after a little more fooling I have discovered that I can initialize the IR points , but only after finding them a distance down and to the right. I hope that makes sense. what I mean to say is that when calibrating, I am clicking on the first cross but doing so by finding a point which coincides below it and to the right. The same process works for all of the points and wammo , it is working , but very poorly since I have guess where I should click by approximating the ” down and to the right distance ”
I am soooo close!! any thoughts on solving this one?
I have tried resetting, re-booting, unhooking the porjector.
Does the wii mote have to be t an angle to the projection ? Maybe I can’t have it pointing straight on?
Hi Chad,
please start the program with enabled debug-mode for BlueCove, as explained in this post.
This may give a hint to the problem.
Sorry for the late reply,
Uwe
Ni Nate,
I don’t know of another program that let’s you do this. And it seems unlikely to get this working with Inkwell either: 1, 2.
Uwe
Hi,
That’s because the Wiimote’s camera usually sees the reflection of infrared light on the wall. It is important to have a somewhat reflective surface that you’re projecting on.
I’d assume that perpendicular Wiimote placement won’t work very well. Make sure to have a look at this detailed HOWTO for schools and the wiimoteproject.com forums, for instance this post.
Uwe
Hi,
I have this set up in my living room on a Windows XP laptop and it’s working pretty darn well. I can probably help you out. Email me at shakepeare@sbcglobal.net. If you are in the L.A. area I would even be glad to come to you classroom if you could pay me a bit for my time. I was a teacher myself last year.
James.