Wii Multitouch Wows TED

Johnny Lee of Carnegie Mellon graduates to the TED2008 platform to show off his Wii-based interactive whiteboard and give a strong plug for the use of YouTube in democratizing the process of technology research. ( 5 min video from TED Talks).

I posted earlier on Thoughts Illustrated: WiiMote multitouch from CynergyLabs on Johnny's simple, very cheap method ($40) for using the Wiimote IR sensors to provide multitouch interactivity in large "mural" size format brings the price point of these displays within the reach of anyone wanting to integrate the user with the display of visual information. Since I first learned of Lee's innovation, he has reached over a 500,000 people who have downloaded his code to explore the use of the Wiimote and has made a business deal with Electronic Arts the giant game producer to incorporate his 3D "glasses" into interactive games ( shown in the second segment of the video)

This dramatic reduction in the cost of interactive whiteboards presages an explosion of the use of this powerful form of user interface with images and data. Every classroom and business meeting room should have one.

WiiMote multitouch from CynergyLabs

Building on Johnny Chung Lee's Wiimote example, CynergyLab in San Diego has created a multitouch prototype using a large screen display and IR emitters built into gloves. I'll bet Nintendo never thought of that!