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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.
Heeya
THe new update, does it include compatibility with windows? So I can use standard windows blueT win 7?
Hi Dariusz,
the new update doesn’t change anything in this regard. Please see the Changelog.
I have a Kensington K33348 bluetooth on Windows 7 Home edition (32-bit) . It’s telling me “not supported on winsock”.
any advice? My bluetooth can’t do a permanent pairing (if it ever did). What’s wrong? what’s a good bluetooth that will work. I’m only concerned about the Wii to make this project work. I want to use it in the classroom. I’m not a very techi guy.
I will appreciate any help from you. Thank you.
Hi Daniel,
using my app on Windows is unfortunately not as easy as on the Mac.
Please see this previous post.
Hello,
thanks for this programm.
I wonder if its possible to activate multitouch capabilitis for windows 7.
I use IR illuminatet glass as touchscreen with backprojektion. A multitouch funktion would make this perfekt. I would make a big donate for multitouch
Anyway my Win7 64bit doesn’t allow me tzo use multitouch because of missing multitouch device. Maybe there is a way to simulate multitouch hardware with this.
Too bad this winsock incompatibility. You should remove windows from the list of the supported OS.
stupid statement @ed
Sorry for repeat
I am applying the wii smartboard to my school and need help.
Some of stuff we need to have fixed.
1. Faster connecting between the wiimote and the program
2.Does not lose connection randomly
3.Get rid of lag when using one wiimote on Mac with a bluetooth doogle.
4. Maybe add a save calibration setting. redoing the calibration sucks.
Love the Program Best Regards
Matt Davis
Hi Patrick,
I have no idea whether this is possible or not, but it’s very likely that I won’t implement this feature. Sorry.
I’m simply a Mac user and don’t even have a Windows 7 machine for testing.
Sorry for the very late reply, I’m currently traveling…
Hi Matt,
are you using this on Mac, Windows, or Linux?
The connection sometimes doesn’t work for me the first time. A simple retry does this trick for me. What do you mean by “faster”?
Never experienced this problem on the Mac during development.
Never tried using a Bluetooth dongle, although can’t think of a reason why it should be slower.
My app saves the calibration settings. So there should be no need to re-calibrate if the Wiimote and the display haven’t been moved.
Ardesia 0.3 is out!
You can use the wiimote whiteboard with Ardesia
to annotate on the desktop
This is avaivable for Linux and Windows
http://code.google.com/p/ardesia/
You can try to build it on Mac following
http://code.google.com/p/ardesia/wiki/CompileOnMacosx
You can see some screenshoot on
http://code.google.com/p/ardesia/wiki/Screenshot
hi guys!! i was wondering how can i actually open this code in net-beans because i want to manipulate and play around with the code for my own skill improvement but i was unable to even open it net beans because it was not locating library files.
i hope there is someone kind enough to show me step by step guide of how to use this source code in net-beans and run it from net beans .
any tips you can email me on g. zalys@ hot mail. com
thank you
can someone help me in understanding the coding used for whiteboard software in xp and the programming structure for the interactive whiteboard project of Johnny Lee
I am interested in using this in connection with a multitouch board. I have not been able to check on the multitouch capabilities with the tuio(?). Do you have any suggestions
Hi
Thanks for your program. It seems it works fine in my Mac but there are some things I want to improve:
1 – The visualization area keeps very reduced – it is always around 5%. I moved the wiimote around but I cannot improve it!! (got a value of 40% in the first atempts, but could not get it again).
2 – The camera monitoriing functioned the first time I used the wiimotewhiteboard..but never again. What is wrong?
Thank you again
Fernando
2 -
“are you using this on Mac, Windows, or Linux?”
I am using iMac on the Mac OS
“What do you mean by “faster”?”
Some of the time it takes forever for the program to find the wiimote
or sometimes the wiimote will connect to the computers bluetooth service and not the program.
The connection of the wiimote to the Mac will randomly drop. I believe this happens when their is more bluetooth devices in the room because when their is no one else with cellphones with bluetooth services it stays connected for hours but when classroom full of students the connection drops very quick! So my suggestion is to add a setting to stop and resume looking for wiimotes, so other bluetooth devices don’t interfere.
The reason why I am using bluetooth doogle is because my iMac does not have a builtin bluetooth. Other iMac’s that do have built in bluetooth run the program smooth. This is the bluetooth doogle am using. It works fine on mac but causing lag
http://www.amazon.com/2-4GHz-Bluetooth-Dongle-Adapter-Windows/dp/B0019SI266/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1277662433&sr=8-3-spell
Thank you for telling about the save calibration, we have always been taking it down after using it.
Hope we can resolve this problem that I am having and I wish you my Best regards
-Matt Davis
Hi zalis,
I personally don’t use NetBeans, but I believe it can import the configuration from an Apache Ant build script, which is included in my source code download (build.xml).
If you want to do it manually, you just need to add all the jar-files from the lib folder to the Java classpath.
Sorry for the very late reply, I’m currently traveling…
Hi Rishi,
you’ll find some information at the wiimoteproject.com forums. Try posting there if you have further questions.
Sorry for the very late reply, I’m currently traveling…
Hi Brad,
I’m unable to help if you don’t ask a specific question.
Sorry for the late reply, I’m currently traveling…
Hi Fernando,
don’t worry about the tracking area as long as everything is working fine.
Does the application otherwise work normally? If so, that’s strange.
Sorry for the late reply, I’m currently traveling…
Hi Matt,
are you by any chance using an old iMac with a PowerPC processor? If so, that could explain some of your problems (read the Bluetooth section in the Wiki).
This is certainly possible that other Bluetooth devices interfere. I’m unable to test this however while developing the software.
In order to stop the app from looking for further Bluetooth devices, consider setting the runtime option org.uweschmidt.wiimote.whiteboard.wiimotes to “1″; see the Wiki for instructions.
Sorry for the late reply, I’m currently traveling…
Hi, I’m wondering if I can use a normal infrared receiver rather than the Wii Remote?
Is there a way to support multitouch in Mac os.?
Hi Uwe, I like all the ir led possibilities!
Yesterday I have installed your software on my laptop Mac (OS10.5.8); I’ve followed the instructions on preferences etc.
And I have come till the callibration of the 4 points. with my ir ledpen. I tried both with the wiiremote on a beamer and on my laptop screen. both give the same result:
After the four √ ’s of the calibration, the irledpen can not be used as a mouse. and I cannot draw or so. The proces stucks.
What do I forget? Hope you can help me out, thanks,
Maatje (Netherlands)
Hy I’m trying to use the whiteboard on windows7 64 bit
and the program say that does not work with winsocks
but I have read that the bluecove library works fine
with winsocks
Is it possible fix this problem??
Thanks
aun no han hecho la version que corra en windows 7 64 bits???
your solution to “force” it to start with widcomm didn’t work. i copied the command listed into the command propt, and it says “Bluetooth failed to initialize. there is probably a problem with your local bluetooth stack or API”… so uh, i downloaded and installed Widcomm but nothing really seems to have changed.. i know when i went to install it, it said to connect my bluetooth device. when i connected it, windows instantly started downloading windows drivers. but then when the install of widcomm finished the driver listed shows broadcom instead of iogear like it usually does lol. idk how to get this stupid thing to work…
hi
i wanted to know if this sorce code works with windows XP sp3
Im from Indian Rural area and then most advance OS available here is Windows Xp sp3 so for teaching my student in Rural area i need this so can u hepl me out wid this
Hello,
I finally succeed in install of wiimote whiteboard on windows XP (I had hard times because it refuses to recognize windows bluetooth stack but I replaced it with widcomm). Now I have a problem : how to correctly connect 2 wiimotes (improve the reception because of lefthanded / righthanded users) ?
Whatever I do the software complains about one of the wiimote “out of the screen limits” and need recalibration. When I “look” at the wii camera screen the plot 1 & 2 are correctly located and very near…
Thanks for your help…