Wii remote question (tech)

What is the half-angle view of the wii remote. If you point the wii-mote directly in front of and about 12" away from one side of the sensor bar (perpendicular to the bar) and rotate (left or right) it away from the sensor bar until the wii-mote loses track of it, the amount of degrees that you rotated it would be the half-angle. (a ruler and a protractor would work great; a picture of your measurment and the rig you used would be nice to)

Please do not post trash replies just because it is a tech question or you do not know why I would want to know the answer.

could u re-word ur question?  like u want me to measure how far off the horizontal my wiimote is?

btw whats this for?

just for kicks lol..if u got a washroom  w/o too much turns near ur tv..u could actually play wii from siting on the can.  all u need is a few mirrors..i tried and only need 6 mirrors..and can do it lol.

could u re-word ur question?  like u want me to measure how far off the horizontal my wiimote is?

btw whats this for?

just for kicks lol..if u got a washroom  w/o too much turns near ur tv..u could actually play wii from siting on the can.  all u need is a few mirrors..i tried and only need 6 mirrors..and can do it lol.

mkfalcon2007

Heh, I got past that hamster-wheel part of Super Paper Mario while taking a dump :P. The bluetooth had enough range to reach to my room from the bathroom, so I just held in the right on the d-pad while I took care of business and read the latest copy of EGM. Came back and had plenty of rubies or whatever to get the next door code.

 I know, TMI and off-topic, but I wanted to share! :P

I am sorry; I am not good with words. This should help:

Heh, I got past that hamster-wheel part of Super Paper Mario while taking a dump decepticondevil

I am sorry; I am not good with words. This should help:

jed-at-war

As a short answer, as soon as you're no longer pointing at the screen (if you're talking about the cursor itself).  

The cursor appearing isn't a good way to judge this, as it will only be onscreen if you're pointing on screen, and the point where the Wiimote loses it's bearings in relation to the sensor bar is a bit after that.

hmm... very curious as to what you might be working on that requires this information. here's an idea:

1. while plugged into an active Wii, place the sensor bar on a flat surface 12" away from an active wii remote.

2. place a laser leveling device (you can get these at your local hardware store) on top of the sensor bar such that it creates a laser line along the flat surface that is representative of the IR light path.

3. keeping it rested on the flat surface, rotate the active wii remote while on the flat surface not unlike the diagram you created to the exact point where the on-screen cursor disappears off the edge of the screen.

4. using a protractor held above the wii remote, use the laser line to roughly eyeball your half-angle relative to what you perceive as the central focal line of the wii remote's IR camera.

though very crude, you may be able to get a close estimate of the half-angle you're looking for...

hmm... very curious as to what you might be working on that requires this information. here's an idea:

 

1. while plugged into an active Wii, place the sensor bar on a flat surface 12" away from an active wii remote.

2. place a laser leveling device (you can get these at your local hardware store) on top of the sensor bar such that it creates a laser line along the flat surface that is representative of the IR light path.

3. keeping it rested on the flat surface, rotate the active wii remote while on the flat surface not unlike the diagram you created to the exact point where the on-screen cursor disappears off the edge of the screen.

4. using a protractor held above the wii remote, use the laser line to roughly eyeball your half-angle relative to what you perceive as the central focal line of the wii remote's IR camera.

 

though very crude, you may be able to get a close estimate of the half-angle you're looking for...

Crombian

Nicely put; that's what  I was trying to say. Thank you.

40 degrees would be the min that my project could work with. I might just have to bring a bag of stuff into GameCrazy and measure it using their Wii.jed-at-war

so this is for some sort of project and not simply to verify that your device is not faulty or something...

purely out of curiosity, what is it you're working? a peripheral of some sort? better yet, a new gameplay concept you are attempting to implement in a new piece of IP?

[QUOTE="jed-at-war"]40 degrees would be the min that my project could work with. I might just have to bring a bag of stuff into GameCrazy and measure it using their Wii.Crombian

so this is for some sort of project and not simply to verify that your device is not faulty or something...

purely out of curiosity, what is it you're working? a peripheral of some sort? better yet, a new gameplay concept you are attempting to implement in a new piece of IP?

Yes, a sensor that will improve game-play. You will be able to point right at the screen and the cursor will be right at the spot you were aiming at. To make it simple, the aiming will be right on instead of relative to the sensor bar.

You know there is a sensor bar calibration menu on the Wii. I have yet to really use it aside from one time....get this...the overhead light was reflecting off my Band of Brothers dvd tin atop my entertainment center. The IR sensor in the Wiimote was picking that up, and the calibration menu was picking up 3 dots intead of two. Weird.

But anyway, my wiimote is almost spot-on. I can look directly down the wiimote (like sighting a gun) and it is ALWAYs dead on. It gets a little wonky if I am way off to the side. Maybe Im lucky.

As a side note, making a sensor bar is rather easy. You can look up specs through Google (too lazy to find them tonite). You can make the bar as wide as you want for your poject. Candles also work fine. You may have to work out the calibration, though.

Has anyone ever tried breaking the sensor bar. If you dont snap the wiring, im sure you could take the IR LEDs to new widths. Just curious, not trying it myself.

I know, but most homemade sensors are trash mainly because of their appearance and parts. I am making a commercial quality sensor system that will plug into the wall instead of wasting batteries or plugging into the wii. You are lucky that your sensor bar is right on. How big is your TV?jed-at-war

I have a standard 26" SDTV. The sensor bar mounted with the included stand.

I know, but most homemade sensors are trash mainly because of their appearance and parts. I am making a commercial quality sensor system that will plug into the wall instead of wasting batteries or plugging into the wii. You are lucky that your sensor bar is right on. How big is your TV?jed-at-war

Plugging into the wall is overkill unless, of course, I am underestimating your project. It doesnt take much to power two LEDs. A Wavebird controller will run for approx 100 hours (and then some in my experience) on two AA batteries. I am sure a watch battery or the like could power it for a LONG while.

Keep in mind the sensor bar does absolutely nothing except allow the wiimote to orient itelf. The cord attached to the Wii is only for power.

[QUOTE="Crombian"]

[QUOTE="jed-at-war"]40 degrees would be the min that my project could work with. I might just have to bring a bag of stuff into GameCrazy and measure it using their Wii.jed-at-war

so this is for some sort of project and not simply to verify that your device is not faulty or something...

purely out of curiosity, what is it you're working? a peripheral of some sort? better yet, a new gameplay concept you are attempting to implement in a new piece of IP?

Yes, a sensor that will improve game-play. You will be able to point right at the screen and the cursor will be right at the spot you were aiming at. To make it simple, the aiming will be right on instead of relative to the sensor bar.

a compelling idea that will certainly be useful. the current approximation of position relative to screen (e.g. the "is your sensor bar above or below TV" option in Wii set-up menu) is potentially limiting. this will be especially apparent for on-the-rails-shooters (e.g. umbrella chronicles) where true arcade-style, looking-down-the-barrel-of-a-lightgun mechanics may be limited. kudos, and best of luck with the development of this peripheral. if i can get my hands on some sort of laser-leveler, i'll try to get a more accurate measurement for you. however, just in eye-balling it, the half-angle appears to be somewhere between 40 to 45 degrees.

as for the poster who mentioned that his/her line-of-sight is essentially one-to-one with their TV, you need to consider the fact that he/she is playing on a 27" 4:3 SDTV. it's my suspicion that what he/she perceives to be one-to-one is merely a byproduct of the relatively small vertical distance of a 27" viewing screen. i can assure you that  on my 55" 16:9 HDTV (sensor bar mounted above) that looking down the Wii remote (like a gun, using 3 contiguous reference points) does not yield a line-of-sight anywhere near one-to-one.

As a short answer, as soon as you're no longer pointing at the screen (if you're talking about the cursor itself).

The cursor appearing isn't a good way to judge this, as it will only be onscreen if you're pointing on screen, and the point where the Wiimote loses it's bearings in relation to the sensor bar is a bit after that.

Spelunker

 What you are pointing at is the sensor bar, NOT the screen.  If you had for some reason put the bar somewhere else other than under or over the television pointing on or off the screen would make no difference, as it does in this question.  What matters is pointing at the bar.

To the OP, you have to also take into account the horizontal postion of the Wii-remote when looking from the top in relation to the bar.  If you start of to the side as opposed to centered on the bar, you'll get different answers.  If the viewing angle of the IR LED's in the sensor bar and IR recievers in the Wii mote were known it would be an easy calculation, but since they aren't, you're probably best determining the answer like you said with a protractor and a ruler.  

As some others have said setttings on the Wii and in a game may also have an effect on your reading. 

[QUOTE="mkfalcon2007"]

could u re-word ur question? like u want me to measure how far off the horizontal my wiimote is?

btw whats this for?

just for kicks lol..if u got a washroom w/o too much turns near ur tv..u could actually play wii from siting on the can. all u need is a few mirrors..i tried and only need 6 mirrors..and can do it lol.

decepticondevil

Heh, I got past that hamster-wheel part of Super Paper Mario while taking a dump :P. The bluetooth had enough range to reach to my room from the bathroom, so I just held in the right on the d-pad while I took care of business and read the latest copy of EGM. Came back and had plenty of rubies or whatever to get the next door code.

I know, TMI and off-topic, but I wanted to share! :P

Haha, I got past that part cuz I taped down the left part of the D-pad. Haha 

I've done my homework. (pages of trig)

The only things left are:

    finding out the wiimote view angle

    Figuring how the wiimote calculates vertical position. (I'm guessing that the remote thinks that the sensor bar is in the middle of a 11" 4:3 imaginary TV.) 

    If the Wii has an option for wide-screen that will slightly affect the cursor position.

[QUOTE="mkfalcon2007"]

could u re-word ur question? like u want me to measure how far off the horizontal my wiimote is?

btw whats this for?

just for kicks lol..if u got a washroom w/o too much turns near ur tv..u could actually play wii from siting on the can. all u need is a few mirrors..i tried and only need 6 mirrors..and can do it lol.

decepticondevil

Heh, I got past that hamster-wheel part of Super Paper Mario while taking a dump :P. The bluetooth had enough range to reach to my room from the bathroom, so I just held in the right on the d-pad while I took care of business and read the latest copy of EGM. Came back and had plenty of rubies or whatever to get the next door code.

I know, TMI and off-topic, but I wanted to share! :P

HAHHA this is EXACTLY what i did! 

[QUOTE="mkfalcon2007"]

could u re-word ur question? like u want me to measure how far off the horizontal my wiimote is?

btw whats this for?

just for kicks lol..if u got a washroom w/o too much turns near ur tv..u could actually play wii from siting on the can. all u need is a few mirrors..i tried and only need 6 mirrors..and can do it lol.

decepticondevil

Heh, I got past that hamster-wheel part of Super Paper Mario while taking a dump :P. The bluetooth had enough range to reach to my room from the bathroom, so I just held in the right on the d-pad while I took care of business and read the latest copy of EGM. Came back and had plenty of rubies or whatever to get the next door code.

I know, TMI and off-topic, but I wanted to share! :P

i did the exact same thing. its more common then ya think. 

[QUOTE="jed-at-war"]I know, but most homemade sensors are trash mainly because of their appearance and parts. I am making a commercial quality sensor system that will plug into the wall instead of wasting batteries or plugging into the wii. You are lucky that your sensor bar is right on. How big is your TV?gromit007

Plugging into the wall is overkill unless, of course, I am underestimating your project. It doesnt take much to power two LEDs. A Wavebird controller will run for approx 100 hours (and then some in my experience) on two AA batteries. I am sure a watch battery or the like could power it for a LONG while.

Keep in mind the sensor bar does absolutely nothing except allow the wiimote to orient itelf. The cord attached to the Wii is only for power.

I will have six LED's running on max voltage and amperage. I am toying with the idea of selling a battery powered one to, but it will need bigger batteries than AA for longer play. The wireless sensor bar out now with only four LED's lasts for only about 30 hr on four AA. This will be for the people that do not like wires, but some people don't want the hassle of buying and changing batteries.