Tom Sextro

Doug Jensen forwarded the following information to me.
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We purchased the pens and ceiling mount from http://penteractive.us/

It’s so easy a seventh grader can do it.

It is necessary to notch the web between the two “battery-shaped components” of the battery eliminator. It is easier to perform this on the battery eliminator as opposed to altering the Wii remote. If you look in the battery compartment of the remote, you will see two small gussets or buttresses that prevent installation of the pre-modification battery eliminator. We use a small rotary tool (i.e. Dremel) with a cutting disc to notch the web. It has not been an issue for us but you might want to disassemble the “battery-shaped components” of the battery eliminator to be sure you don’t inadvertently cut any of the internal wiring.

The “hot” end of the Wii remote is at the “bottom” end of the remote, not where you might be inclined to think it is.

It is also necessary to build up the hot terminal of the battery eliminator so as to make contact with the terminal in the Wii remote — this can be accomplished with solder. By inserting the battery eliminator into the battery compartment, you will be able to see what is needed.

I suspect the Wii remote was designed to preclude the use of battery eliminators!

Once you have the battery eliminator in place in the battery compartment, it will become obvious how you can notch the battery compartment cover to route the wire for a neater installation.

Here is a link to a pdf of the Camtasia Studio hands on presentation that I will be doing on Thursday, Oct. 16, 2008 in Wichita.

Camtasia Studio Presentation

Here is a link to a virtual keyboard that could be handy in the Mac environment when using the Wiimote.

Here is a link to a youtube clip showing the final infrared pen that we built.

We’ve mounted the Wiimote above our mounted projector. Here are two movies that show what we’ve done.

Overview
View Up Close

Here is what we purchased to provide power instead of batteries for the Wiimote.

Our installation crew had to modify this powershot so that it would sit in the Wii as Nintendo must have at some point decided that providing power 100% of the time was not one of their goals.

We also taped the buttons 1 & 2 down permanently so that a teacher wouldn’t have to deal with that. They just start the WiimoteWhiteboard software and they instantly connect.

I believe it is best to attach the wii remote to the bottom of the overhead projector. This could also be done on a projector that is not mounted …. it would just be the reverse of what you see. You will need the following materials.

- gray pvc pipe for $4.15 for about 8 feet
- PVC cutting tool for about $20
- Iindustrial velcro from Walmart for about $20.00.

The industrial velcro has sticky backing. Place a 4 inch strip perpendicular to the screen and let it dry for 24 hours. Then cut the complementary piece of industrial velcro but don’t take off the sticky backing. It needs to be just larger than the wii remote that will slide in it. This will be about 6 3/8 inches depending if you have the cover on the remote. Attach this to the velcro that is stuck to the bottom of the projector. Finally, adjust the wii remote until you get the right angle. Once you find the right angle, cut a piece of gray pvc plastic pipe to place between the wii remote and the projector. See pictures below.

This web based site might work for a whiteboard.

Another Macintosh software program that lets you write over a screen snapshot is called ScribbleScreen. It allows for you to use your entire screen if you want which is very nice. It’s simple but works well.

You can also have a built in virtual keyboard in Mac OS 10.4 and 10.5. For instructions, click here.

The purpose of this post is to try to convince you that you can create your own whiteboard for about $50 which is considerably cheaper than commercial whiteboard systems. This solution will work for both Macintosh and PC computers that have bluetooth networking capabilities. In this post, I’m going to focus on how to get everything working from a Macintosh computer perspective.

Here is a link to a video that gives you the big picture of what’s going on.

Here is a link to the software needed for a Macintosh computer.

Here is a ten minute video on how to use a Macintosh computer with a Wii remote and have an inexpensive whiteboard.

The toughest part of this whole project is making the infrared pen.

Here is a link to a free virtual chalkboard.

Here is another video explaining where to place the Wii controller as well as how the $50 Wii Whiteboard system works when you use a good infrared pen.

Here is a link to an open source whiteboard software to use with your wii whiteboard system.

An even better free solution for whiteboard software is Marratech.

We learned a few more things as we deployed our first test wii whiteboard today for an inservice at our high school. First, the projector was angled in such a way as to point almost to the top of the wall. In that situation, a teacher wouldn’t be able to reach that high. We ended up having to tilt the projector down which wasn’t too difficult. We’ll probably have to lower projectors this summer so the teacher can easily push the buttons on the wii to synch it to the whiteboard software on the computer.

Second, when we designed the two infrared pens, one had the LED recessed into the pen a few millimeters while the other had the LED stick out a similar distance. We found out that the LED that was recessed did not work as well as the pull down screen in the classroom was not as reflective as the surface we used in our testing. When we used the other pen with the LED sticking out slightly, it solved the problem.