Wii Remote + Python + Linux

Here’s a teaser on the applications that I’ve been building recently for my proposal to present a talk at PyCon India, 2010. The cwiid project provides a simple python wrapper which allows application developers to interface with the Nintendo Wii remote over bluetooth.

I have build a small wrapper on top of the cwiid module that allows you to run a thread which connects to the Wii remote and sample data from it at regular intervals and feed that data to a designated callback routine. This approach improves the usability of the cwiid module and allows a developer to easily embed Wii remotes into their applications.

Intuitive control is something that never comes cheap! Touch screens cost a fortune and are not supported by every application. Using the Wii, and some clever programming, gesture and pattern recognition can be brought to almost every desktop. Brian Peek’s library has been a rich source for developers on Windows using the .NET framework, but it seems like there is little happening on Linux as far as expanding or maintaining a decent Wii library is concerned.

Here is a taste of what we can achieve with a little imagination and a few lines of code. Check out this video I made today, that allows me to set my desktop on fire :D

There will be more updates headed your way very soon. If you like what you’ve seen, comment on my blog or “like” this video on YouTube. Support PyCon India, this year and the next.

I dedicate this video to Brian Peek, whose work on creating a Windows based library for the Wiimote inspired many others to take it beyond the barriers of operating systems and languages. Cheers to you mate!