This makes me want to quit my job and become a full-time nerd

I stumbled across some video demonstrations yesterday that, as they say, captured my imagination.  The videos show some high-level nerdery using the Wiimote to control a non-Wii computer interface.  If you have a moment and a high-speed connection, click on over to see what I'm talking about.  The video at the bottom is by far the most impressive to my eyes.

All of this stuff is possible because the Wiimote has some serious hardware inside.  First off, the connection to the Wii proper is done through a Bluetooth connection, which makes eavesdropping in on the messages being sent back and forth much easier.  For those of you who don't know, Bluetooth is a wireless communication standard that is most commonly seen in the cell phone market.  If you've seen people walking around wearing just a headset talking on their phones, you've seen Bluetooth in action.  The user's phone is squirreled away in a backpack, pocket, or briefcase, and the headset is connected to it, acting as a remote microphone and speaker.  The Wii uses the same techonology but instead of sending a phone conversation between a headset and a cell phone, it is used to send information between the Wiimote and the Wii.

The information that it is sending is where the real magic is, though.  There are two things the Wii system uses to keep track of where the Wiimote is and how it is moving.  The first is an integrated three-dimensional accelerometer.  This is a little chip that can measure how much acceleration the Wiimote is experiencing in all three dimensions (up/down, left/right, away/toward the TV screen). Using a bit of math, it is theoretically possible to know exactly where the Wiimote is in space at any time and how it is moving.

It appears, though, that some kind of practical limitation kept this sensing from being precise enough in the real world and so a second system was put in place: the IR camera.  In the very front of the Wiimote is a fairly high-resolution IR camera that watches the position of two IR LED lights tucked away in the sensor bar you place on your TV. By watching the size, position, and orientation of theses lights,  a second independent method of 3-D location is made possible. If the lights are bigger, the Wiimote is closer to the TV.  If the lights are in the upper-left of the screen and tilted, then the Wiimote is in the lower-left of the screen and also tilted.

All of this (and more) has been packed into one remote-control sized device that is actually affordable to normal people (that is, people not doing research in academia).  In my mind, this is probably the most incredible part of the whole system.  Because of this integration, the Wii is the most accessible, most-popular video game platform today.

What these videos show, though, is how much more potential there is.  Adventure-some hackers have taken the time to largely decode and understand the information being sent between the Wiimote and the Wii.  Using this information, software hase been written that allows a Bluetooth-equipped computer to connect to the Wiimote and use this information for other purposes.  This device-level software (called a "driver") is then used by other programmers who build on it and create more general software like what is demonstrated in the videos.

The incredible potential of this system truly captures my imagination.  The opportunities to do new things in new ways seems wide open right now and it makes me want to quit my job and explore these opportunities.  If I was more of a computer nerd, I might just do something like that under the guise of a graduate program.  For now, though, I'm going to sit back and continue to be amazed at how these "toys" are going to be put to use.

Back in the USA

Well, we're back home and in full swing to try to get our lives in order.  The flights home were on time and uneventful except for one item: we flew first class from Beijing to Chicago.  Providentially, we were upgraded from coach due to overbooking in that class.  I have flown first-class once before for a business trip but this experience was far beyond that.  The first and most significant aspect: each seat is effectively a recliner.  I took a six-hour nap in a near horizontal position and didn't have to worry about the people behind me or next to me having to wake me up so they could get by to use the restroom.  The amount of space given each seat is absolutely enormous; it is an embarrassment of room compared to our flight over.  There were other luxuries like a personal TV with multiple channels, an actual menu with choices for each multi-course meal and almost real pillows and blankets but I would forsake all of those just for the reclining seat.All good things must come to an end and our flight from Chicago to Wichita was back in economy (though the flight was on-time).

Customs in Chicago was a bit weird.  After officially entering the country we waited a good forty minutes to pick-up our luggage.  We then hauled it no more than a few hundred feet to customs agent who, after looking over our paperwork, let us pass without incident, and then dropped it off at another luggage check point.  I assume that if the customs agent didn't like our paperwork they wanted the ability to search our luggage but for virtually everybody entering the port, this seems nothing more than jumping through hoops.  Such is life.

We got back home to find a pile of mail, some bread and milk from friends who were watching the house (very, very kind of them) and an inability to get to sleep quickly.  By 2am we had both nodded off and slept in until around 10am.  I was able to stay up the whole next day but Katie wasn't feeling well and slept through a good portion of the day.  Not surprisingly, she wasn't quite ready for bed when I was and we had another not quite as late night.  Today is looking better and we're both hoping a normal bedtime will work for us tonight.

We unpacked a bit yesterday and found out, much to our surprise, that all our fragile goods survived the flight unharmed.  We had worked pretty hard in Beijing to package them securely and our efforts were rewarded.  The rest of unpacking is moving along just fine with most of the laundry almost done.

There was one unfortunate half-surprise when we got home.  I preparation for our trip I had turned off the water to the washing machine.  The valve was damaged, though, and it took a about half an hour to find the magic position where the valve was closed and didn't leak.  When I got home and turned the water back on I quickly remembered that it was broken as I couldn't find a non-leaking open position.  I spent an hour or so driving around trying to find a replacement valve.  No luck.

At the final hardware store I visited I realized with a washer or gasket I could position the valve in the full-open position and prevent it from leaking.  I got the o-rings I needed, took everything home and reassembled the valve to find my idea worked.  No leaking and we could use the washing machine.  The big catch is that turning the valve off will mostly stop the water flow but not completely; the valve is still broken and needs replacement.  

Maybe I work on that next weekend.

Even More Pictures

I've posted another batch of pictures to Flickr, the set that will go up "from the field." We fly back in about six hours (our Thursday afternoon) and, barring any flight difficulties, get into Wichita Thursday evening.

I plan on posting more commentary and pictures once back in the States; we'll see how that goes.

Until later....