We know that the Wiimote sometimes gets used for things other than waggle — hell, it’s even beenhelpful to the disabled. Its newest foray outside the world of games has to do with a research project being conducted at Rice University, which hopes to find a way to use the Wiimote to control robot teachers.
Led by Rice professors Marcia O’Malley and Michael Byrne, the project plans to analyze motion using the controller and then compare it to an advanced capture device from Vicon. O’Malley has had previous experience with research on robots and how they can be used to help stroke victims, and describes the current research as an extension of that. She comments:
We’re already grabbing motion data from the Wiimote, so soon we’ll be able to measure a range of motion and then turn it into a mathematical model.
Science: kicking ass and taking names since the Middle Ages!
[ViaEdge Online]
