Wii = Geek toy supreme

[misterx]

Reduced to it's basics, a Wiimote is a 3-axis accelerometer paired with a Bluetooth transmitter.

Connecting to the Wiimote via a Bluetooth enabled PC allows you to eavesdrop on the output of the accelerometers.

Thus, with a laptop and a Wiimote, one can do interesting things, like performance testing one's automobile. How many G's are you pulling on the skidpad? What does your acceleration curve look like? What's your 0-60 time?

Too cool for school.

http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=3362586

(now here's hoping Mel gets a new laptop so I can do stuff like this with her old one!)

Comments

[datagoddess.livejournal.com]

GEEK!!!

[dariens-haircut.livejournal.com]

They have USB dongles for bluetooth access. Not as compact as a built-in radio, but easily adaptable for a laptop (or desktop) that doesn't have it natively. If you don't know what I'm talking about, go to http://geeks.com/ and search for the words (together) "bluetooth" and "USB". Then, it's just a matter of whether your OS supports a particular adapter (or chipset); and, if you run *shudder* Windows, it probably does.

Or you could wait.

[misterx.livejournal.com]

Yeah, Melanie's laptop already has Bluetooth, thus it's charm.

My computer doesn't have bluetooth, and while I could add it via a USB dongle, I worry it wouldn't be the most practical solution, at least for this application. That would take a LOT of extension cords.

[dariens-haircut.livejournal.com]

Oh yeah. The car G-forces. Yeah. Though it is possible to buy 12V PSUs for desktop machines, that quickly becomes ridiculous. Especially if one also intends to use it as a desktop.

There are some applications where a laptop is the best thing. Failing a dedicated embedded system made for the purpose, a laptop totally fills that bill. Except for the whole being way too expensive thing. I still don't have one. I considered getting a refurb (with Windows on it) for this programmer project. None of the "cheap" ones had 802.11. Though I should probably revisit that if I can find a cheap Linux-supported PCMCIA 802.11b/g card. Still, $400 for a used (and obsolete) laptop with a probably dead battery. Madness.