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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 
.
Features in a nutshell
- Open source
- Runs on Mac OS X, Windows, and Linux
- Simple User Interface available in English, Estonian, French, German, Indonesian, 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 (1.0.3)
Some example videos
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 Michael,
not with my application.
It’s possible to build a Wiimote Whiteboard with a webcam, you just need to google to find some people who are doing this. Just yesterday, I got an email from Christophe Soares who is doing this as a project for his Master in mobile computation. In my opinion, using a webcam also has some disadvantages (one example).
Uwe
Hi for everyone =)
Yes the main idea of my project it’s to create like a framework that base on any webcam, will sense the frames and understand where is the point of interest, and report his coordinates =)
With IR it’s easier cause I put a Photo Film in front of the cam and I search for the any pixel value superior to a threshold value.
Based on that with the coordinates of any point, I made an interactive whiteboard like Uweschmidt and Jonnhy Lee does with the Wiimote.
The webcam has a better resolution and could done with a good program recognition the same work as the wii :p
On Youtube you could the first video I have made.. ( http://tiny.cc/christophesoares ) but I keep on improving this project
Cheers,
Christophe Soares
Like the wii report 4 dots, I’ve got an algorithm to detect 4 or more dots =)
But for now I’m only working based on 1 IR Dot.
We cannot forget that a webcam is low-cost than a wii with normaly a better resolution. But the wii is a component that is prepared for Ir dots detection.. so really we’ve got some pros and cons.
Thanks you, Uwe to divulgate my work..
Cheers,
Christophe Soares.
Hello Uwe
Your program looks great. But I’m running the same errors as these people.
I’m trying to run your program on a Ubuntu 9.04.
I have libbluetooth3 and libbluetooth-dev installed which gets me these files in my /usr/lib folder: libbluetooth.so.3.2.1
and libbluetooth.so.3, libbluetooth.so that link to it.
Reading the errors, I can see that your program is trying to get libbluetooth.so.2 which I don’t have on my system. I tried adding a link in /usr/lib from libbluetooth.so.2 to libbluetooth.so.3.2.1 but that hasn’t solved it.
Do you have any idea how I could guess this to work?
Thanks
And here’s the full errors I get, after running this command:
juego@XUV $ java -Dbluecove.debug=true -jar WiimoteWhiteboard.jar
17:28:10.361 Java 1.4+ detected: 1.6.0_13; Java HotSpot(TM) Server VM; Sun Microsystems Inc.(WiiRemoteJ.java:67)(WiimoteDataHandler.java:84)(WiiRemoteJ.java:67)(WiimoteDataHandler.java:84)(WiiRemoteJ.java:74)(WiimoteDataHandler.java:84)(WiiRemoteJ.java:67)
com.intel.bluetooth.UtilsJavaSE.getLocation(UtilsJavaSE.java:121)
17:28:10.381 Use stack ClassLoader
com.intel.bluetooth.NativeLibLoader.loadAsSystemResource(NativeLibLoader.java:271)
17:28:10.383 error Can’t load library file java.lang.UnsatisfiedLinkError: /tmp/bluecove_juego_0/libbluecove.so: libbluetooth.so.2: Ne peut ouvrir le fichier d’objet partagé: Aucun fichier ou dossier de ce type
com.intel.bluetooth.NativeLibLoader.loadAsSystemResource(NativeLibLoader.java:313)
java.lang.UnsatisfiedLinkError: /tmp/bluecove_juego_0/libbluecove.so: libbluetooth.so.2: Ne peut ouvrir le fichier d’objet partagé: Aucun fichier ou dossier de ce type
at java.lang.ClassLoader$NativeLibrary.load(Native Method)
at java.lang.ClassLoader.loadLibrary0(ClassLoader.java:1778)
at java.lang.ClassLoader.loadLibrary(ClassLoader.java:1674)
at java.lang.Runtime.load0(Runtime.java:770)
at java.lang.System.load(System.java:1005)
at com.intel.bluetooth.NativeLibLoader.loadAsSystemResource(NativeLibLoader.java:310)
at com.intel.bluetooth.NativeLibLoader.isAvailable(NativeLibLoader.java:197)
at com.intel.bluetooth.BlueCoveImpl.loadNativeLibraries(BlueCoveImpl.java:383)
at com.intel.bluetooth.BlueCoveImpl.detectStack(BlueCoveImpl.java:432)
at com.intel.bluetooth.BlueCoveImpl.access$500(BlueCoveImpl.java:69)
at com.intel.bluetooth.BlueCoveImpl$1.run(BlueCoveImpl.java:1025)
at java.security.AccessController.doPrivileged(Native Method)
at com.intel.bluetooth.BlueCoveImpl.detectStackPrivileged(BlueCoveImpl.java:1023)
at com.intel.bluetooth.BlueCoveImpl.getBluetoothStack(BlueCoveImpl.java:1016)
at javax.bluetooth.LocalDevice.getLocalDeviceInstance(LocalDevice.java:77)
at javax.bluetooth.LocalDevice.getLocalDevice(LocalDevice.java:97)
at wiiremotej.WiiRemoteJ.
at org.uweschmidt.wiimote.whiteboard.WiimoteConnector.connect(WiimoteConnector.java:48)
at org.uweschmidt.wiimote.whiteboard.WiimoteDataHandler.
at org.uweschmidt.wiimote.whiteboard.WiimoteWhiteboard.startup(WiimoteWhiteboard.java:98)
at org.jdesktop.application.Application$1.run(Application.java:171)
at java.awt.event.InvocationEvent.dispatch(InvocationEvent.java:209)
at java.awt.EventQueue.dispatchEvent(EventQueue.java:597)
at java.awt.EventDispatchThread.pumpOneEventForFilters(EventDispatchThread.java:269)
at java.awt.EventDispatchThread.pumpEventsForFilter(EventDispatchThread.java:184)
at java.awt.EventDispatchThread.pumpEventsForHierarchy(EventDispatchThread.java:174)
at java.awt.EventDispatchThread.pumpEvents(EventDispatchThread.java:169)
at java.awt.EventDispatchThread.pumpEvents(EventDispatchThread.java:161)
at java.awt.EventDispatchThread.run(EventDispatchThread.java:122)
JarClassLoader: Warning: Unable to load native library: java.lang.NullPointerException
17:28:10.443 error Library bluecove not loaded java.lang.UnsatisfiedLinkError: no bluecove in java.library.path
com.intel.bluetooth.NativeLibLoader.tryload(NativeLibLoader.java:220)
java.lang.UnsatisfiedLinkError: no bluecove in java.library.path
at java.lang.ClassLoader.loadLibrary(ClassLoader.java:1709)
at java.lang.Runtime.loadLibrary0(Runtime.java:823)
at java.lang.System.loadLibrary(System.java:1030)
at com.intel.bluetooth.NativeLibLoader.tryload(NativeLibLoader.java:217)
at com.intel.bluetooth.NativeLibLoader.isAvailable(NativeLibLoader.java:201)
at com.intel.bluetooth.BlueCoveImpl.loadNativeLibraries(BlueCoveImpl.java:383)
at com.intel.bluetooth.BlueCoveImpl.detectStack(BlueCoveImpl.java:432)
at com.intel.bluetooth.BlueCoveImpl.access$500(BlueCoveImpl.java:69)
at com.intel.bluetooth.BlueCoveImpl$1.run(BlueCoveImpl.java:1025)
at java.security.AccessController.doPrivileged(Native Method)
at com.intel.bluetooth.BlueCoveImpl.detectStackPrivileged(BlueCoveImpl.java:1023)
at com.intel.bluetooth.BlueCoveImpl.getBluetoothStack(BlueCoveImpl.java:1016)
at javax.bluetooth.LocalDevice.getLocalDeviceInstance(LocalDevice.java:77)
at javax.bluetooth.LocalDevice.getLocalDevice(LocalDevice.java:97)
at wiiremotej.WiiRemoteJ.
at org.uweschmidt.wiimote.whiteboard.WiimoteConnector.connect(WiimoteConnector.java:48)
at org.uweschmidt.wiimote.whiteboard.WiimoteDataHandler.
at org.uweschmidt.wiimote.whiteboard.WiimoteWhiteboard.startup(WiimoteWhiteboard.java:98)
at org.jdesktop.application.Application$1.run(Application.java:171)
at java.awt.event.InvocationEvent.dispatch(InvocationEvent.java:209)
at java.awt.EventQueue.dispatchEvent(EventQueue.java:597)
at java.awt.EventDispatchThread.pumpOneEventForFilters(EventDispatchThread.java:269)
at java.awt.EventDispatchThread.pumpEventsForFilter(EventDispatchThread.java:184)
at java.awt.EventDispatchThread.pumpEventsForHierarchy(EventDispatchThread.java:174)
at java.awt.EventDispatchThread.pumpEvents(EventDispatchThread.java:169)
at java.awt.EventDispatchThread.pumpEvents(EventDispatchThread.java:161)
at java.awt.EventDispatchThread.run(EventDispatchThread.java:122)
Native Library bluecove not available
17:28:10.469 java.library.path /usr/lib/jvm/java-6-sun-1.6.0.13/jre/lib/i386/server:/usr/lib/jvm/java-6-sun-1.6.0.13/jre/lib/i386:/usr/lib/jvm/java-6-sun-1.6.0.13/jre/../lib/i386:/usr/java/packages/lib/i386:/lib:/usr/lib
com.intel.bluetooth.NativeLibLoader.isAvailable(NativeLibLoader.java:209)
java.lang.IllegalStateException: Bluetooth failed to initialize. There is probably a problem with your local Bluetooth stack or API.
at wiiremotej.WiiRemoteJ.
at org.uweschmidt.wiimote.whiteboard.WiimoteConnector.connect(WiimoteConnector.java:48)
at org.uweschmidt.wiimote.whiteboard.WiimoteDataHandler.
at org.uweschmidt.wiimote.whiteboard.WiimoteWhiteboard.startup(WiimoteWhiteboard.java:98)
at org.jdesktop.application.Application$1.run(Application.java:171)
at java.awt.event.InvocationEvent.dispatch(InvocationEvent.java:209)
at java.awt.EventQueue.dispatchEvent(EventQueue.java:597)
at java.awt.EventDispatchThread.pumpOneEventForFilters(EventDispatchThread.java:269)
at java.awt.EventDispatchThread.pumpEventsForFilter(EventDispatchThread.java:184)
at java.awt.EventDispatchThread.pumpEventsForHierarchy(EventDispatchThread.java:174)
at java.awt.EventDispatchThread.pumpEvents(EventDispatchThread.java:169)
at java.awt.EventDispatchThread.pumpEvents(EventDispatchThread.java:161)
at java.awt.EventDispatchThread.run(EventDispatchThread.java:122)
Caused by: javax.bluetooth.BluetoothStateException: BlueCove library bluecove not available
at com.intel.bluetooth.BlueCoveImpl.loadNativeLibraries(BlueCoveImpl.java:384)
at com.intel.bluetooth.BlueCoveImpl.detectStack(BlueCoveImpl.java:432)
at com.intel.bluetooth.BlueCoveImpl.access$500(BlueCoveImpl.java:69)
at com.intel.bluetooth.BlueCoveImpl$1.run(BlueCoveImpl.java:1025)
at java.security.AccessController.doPrivileged(Native Method)
at com.intel.bluetooth.BlueCoveImpl.detectStackPrivileged(BlueCoveImpl.java:1023)
at com.intel.bluetooth.BlueCoveImpl.getBluetoothStack(BlueCoveImpl.java:1016)
at javax.bluetooth.LocalDevice.getLocalDeviceInstance(LocalDevice.java:77)
at javax.bluetooth.LocalDevice.getLocalDevice(LocalDevice.java:97)
at wiiremotej.WiiRemoteJ.
… 12 more
Hello Uwe.
Me again.
Continued testing and thanks to the comments on the WiimoteLogger page, I tried using bluecove-2.1.0.jar and bluecove-gpl-2.1.0.jar instead of 2.0.3 and I got rid of the previous errors.
The application starts alright. But haven’t managed to get a wiimote connected yet.
I get these errors:
INFO 20:22:32 Calibration Event: SCREEN_CHANGED(WiiRemote.java:223)
FINE 20:22:54 WiiRemoteJ: Found Nintendo RVL-CNT-01 (00191D82D6FE)
FINE 20:22:54 WiiRemoteJ: Nintendo RVL-CNT-01 is a Wii Remote.
INFO 20:22:55 WiiRemoteJ: btl2cap://00191D82D6FE
WARNING 20:22:55 WiiRemoteJ: Error finding devices.
java.lang.IllegalArgumentException: PCM values restricted by JAR82 to minimum 4097
at com.intel.bluetooth.MicroeditionConnector.validateL2CAPPSM(MicroeditionConnector.java:434)
at com.intel.bluetooth.MicroeditionConnector.openImpl(MicroeditionConnector.java:336)
at com.intel.bluetooth.MicroeditionConnector.open(MicroeditionConnector.java:513)
at javax.microedition.io.Connector.open(Connector.java:97)
at wiiremotej.WiiRemote.construct(WiiRemote.java:313)
at wiiremotej.WiiRemote.
at wiiremotej.WiiDeviceDiscoverer.getDevice(WiiDeviceDiscoverer.java:121)
at wiiremotej.WiiRemoteJ.findDeviceInternal(WiiRemoteJ.java:342)
at wiiremotej.WiiRemoteJ.access$100(WiiRemoteJ.java:24)
at wiiremotej.WiiRemoteJ$1.run(WiiRemoteJ.java:426)
at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:619)
and there I’m lost. Maybe it’s because I switched from 2.0.3 to 2.1.0 or is it something else. I definetly need help on this one.
Hope to hear from you soon.
Hello Uwe again.
Gee, I should google errors before asking questions. (Repeat
)
Got the app working and gets info from a wiimote.
I googled: java.lang.IllegalArgumentException: PCM values restricted by JAR82 to minimum 4097
and ended up here: http://www.wiili.org/forum/javalangillegalargumentexception-pcm-values-restricted-by-t5158.html
which tells me that if I add a PROPERTY_JSR_82_PSM_MINIMUM_OFF flag, it might work. And it did.
So here’s the translated line of code for those who need it (for bluecove-2.1.0):
java -Dbluecove.jsr82.psm_minimum_off=true -jar WiimoteWhiteboard.jar
It’s up to you now, Uwe. If you d’like to upgrade the Bluecove library you use
Cheers.
Can I make a Wiimote whiteboard out of a tv or a computer screen not a projector?
Has the latest Java update broken the app? I can still connect other things to the bluetooth but the wiimote app states that the stack fails to initialize.
Hi Juego,
I’ll upgrade to BlueCove 2.1.0 in the next release, I’m just not sure when this is going to happen.
I wanted to add some nice new features for the 1.0.0 release, but maybe it’ll just be a “maintenance” release due to time constraints…
Sorry for the late reply,
Uwe
In short, yes.
Sorry for the late reply,
Uwe
Hi Richard,
What Java update are you talking about? I haven’t started my Whiteboard app for some time…
Could you please give me some more details on the error?
Sorry for the late reply,
Uwe
Hi,
I don’t think the Java update is the cause. I thought so, at first, when a few days ago, after Leopard updated, the wiimote app stopped working and became unable to connect to the wiimote (stack error). I tried to uninstall the update but just couldn’t do it. So I reinstalled Leopard (sigh) and didn’t accept the Java update… in vain. The problem remained the same. I then realized an upgrade of the bluetooth controller had been installed and my guess is that this upgrade is the very cause of the problem.
In spite of the bug this upgrade might have caused to the app, it doesn’t seem to prevent the Java version from working correctly. This is the version I’ve been using for a few days and will use it until a new version of the wiimote app is released; I must admit that, as a teacher, I just can’t do with that little piece of genius. Thank you Uwe.
Hope it helps.
Hi,
First of all I’d like to edit my previous post; I meant “I just can’t do without this little piece of genius.
Secondly, it appears the problem comes from the bluecove library, if I understand the log window. The Java version does work though.
Hello Uwe
I wanted to add some nice new features for the 1.0.0 release
Any tip on what you want to add? I’m curious
Cheers
With my limited knowledge and a recruit I am going to give this a try in my classroom. Does anyone know if this can be projected onto a white foam board as opposed to a “white board”?
JGH
Any further details on how this error may be “fixable” (e.g., bluecove library bluecove not available)…is there a way to roll back the bluetooth update in the Mac OS X?
Hi guys,
the problem is fixed for me when I enable the Open in 32 Bit Mode option (suggested by Psile a while back). If this doesn’t work for you, try disabling 64 Bit Java altogether. Please let me know if this solves the problem.
Really sorry for the late reply,
Uwe
Hi,
the actual material of the wall you’re projecting on doesn’t really matter as long as it has a somewhat reflective surface. That’s because the Wiimote’s camera usually sees the reflection of infrared light on the wall.
Sorry for the late reply,
Uwe
Hi Juego,
I wanted to do some 3D stuff, i.e. use stereo vision techniques to get 3D coordinates of IR points. This wouldn’t really benefit the Whiteboard users, but might be interesting for others who use the TUIO data as input for their apps.
Sorry for the late reply,
Uwe
Hello,
i just discovered about this. quite cool! also great it works on mac.
I am curious, how precise is it? how practical is it for every day use? a friend is painting a lot on these Wacoms. Is it precise enough for that? i guess not. couldnt precision maybe enhanced with two Wii Remotes?
thanks!
After the last OSX update, 10.5.7 the mac version stopped working. When I launch the program, I get the following message “Bluetooth failed to initialize. There is probably a problem with your local Bluetooth stack or API” Bluetooth works fine with other devices. Downloaded the cross platform/Java version, and that seems to work. Any suggestions?
Hi Ingvar,
the precision depends on Wiimote placement, screen resolution, and your IR pen. So it’s not easy to say whether it’ll be good enough for painting. I guess you have to try
What I can say is that 2 Wiimotes won’t improve precision. They’re good for redundancy (one Wiimote’s view is blocked) or to increase the the area that can be covered.
Really sorry for the late reply,
Uwe
Hi,
have you tried this?
Really sorry for the late reply,
Uwe
Hallo Uwe,
Thanks for your answer (it’s alright, no hurry. thanks to you!)
Assuming both wiimotes see the point, couldn’t it be theoretically possible to somehow integrate two signals from 2 perspectives into a more precise one?
I am a not a programmer, but I imagine this could be maybe easy to implement by some averaging.
couldn’t that be of interest for some applications?
grüße,
Ingvar
Why is there an error on mine each time i open the app? it says “bluetooth failed to initialize. there is probably a problem with your local bluetooth stack or API” what should I do?
Please help me
Hi!
Im trying to make whiteboard work in my WinXP system, but still i cant.
I use Johnny Lee whiteboard v.0.3, and i can use Smoothboard too, with no problems.
But when I start whiteboard 0.9 I get an error message “not supported under bluesoleil”, the same happened to me with winsock. I have tried to install Widcomm, but the installer doesnt seem to work (it gets stuck at some point, looking for devices). It’s the only stack i couldn’t try so far.
As i said, all other similar whiteboard software for wiimote has worked fine for me.
I have a smoothboard licence, but i really want to try this one, as i loved the idea of touchpad mode. Any suggestion?
Thanks for your time and help.
First, great app Uwe. You’re definitely making things easy for people to adapt this tech and give it a whirl.
Second, to those who are having issues with the “failed to initialize” error. Make sure it’s copied to your drive and not just in the .DMG image before you set the “32-bit mode” flag like Uwe mentioned earlier. And if that’s not it — and this is not a joke — go to the System Preferences and check Bluetooth under Hardware to make sure that it’s actually turned on. I just helped a friend get this setup on her school laptop and the Bluetooth panel was disabled. Strange but true and it only takes a second to check.
Thanks again, Uwe.
Peace!
Hi Ingvar,
Yes, in fact you could try that with a little effort. Download my source and delete line 486 of src/org/uweschmidt/wiimote/whiteboard/calibration/WiimoteCalibration.java, then re-compile and run the app by using the included Ant build script (type ant at the command line in the root folder of my source code). You obviously need to have Ant for this to work, for instance by installing the Developer Tools if you’re using a Mac.
That’ll give you averaging of the IR dot positions as seen by the Wiimotes.
Maybe, you tell me
Again, sorry for the late reply,
Uwe
Hi,
have you tried this? Also read this.
Sorry for the late reply,
Uwe
Hi Wiinoid,
I’m sorry but I guess you’re out of luck. Maybe the folks over at the wiimoteproject.com forums can help…
Did you consider asking the developer of Smoothboard to add a feature like that?
Sorry for the late reply,
Uwe