-273: Wii Warning

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Wii Warning

Warning: Attempts to use a Wii within site of a lighted Christmas tree will be a frustrating experience.

Or at least, that was my experience.

Posted by on 12 December 2006 at 10:47 AM

Comments

That was my experience, as well. As you know, the front of the Wii remote is actually an IR camera, and it's running an image-processing algorithm that finds the positions of the IR beacons embedded in the "sensor" bar. My understanding is that the code is actually implemented in hardware onboard the remote, so it's presumably pretty simple. I'm guessing it makes the assumption that there will be exactly two bright spots in the image, and the presence of red Christmas lights violates that assumption. The sad thing is, a more complex sensor bar pattern would have fixed this problem. For example, if the sensor bar blinked at some known frequency, the remote could easily disregard any non-blinking lights. Another solution would be to have added more lights in the sensor bar. For example, imagine a sequence of 5 or more lights in a row equally spaced along the bar. Then any spots of light in the image that were not co-linear could be ignored. There are, of course, many other possible solutions, and I'm a bit disappointed that Nintendo didn't pursue them. The remote could have easily been more robust.

Posted by michael on 12 December 2006 - 4:21 PM

It concerned me a bit at first when the remote started acting up, but I pretty quickly realized what the issue was. However, I wonder if casual users of the system who have no idea how the remote works will have as easy a time diagnosing the issue. Especially those who might open their Wii up for the first time on Christmas day with the tree lit up.

Posted by david on 12 December 2006 - 6:51 PM

it made digg today:

http://digg.com/gaming_news/The_mortal_enemy_of_the_Wii_Christmas_trees

I have a feeling that Nintendo tech support will be getting a lot of phone calls about this.

Posted by michael on 13 December 2006 - 1:51 PM

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it made digg today: http://digg.com/gaming_news/The_mortal_enemy_of_the_Wii_Christmas_trees I have a feeling that Nintendo tech support will be getting a lot of phone calls about this. It concerned me a bit at first when the remote started acting up, but I pretty quickly realized what the issue was. However, I wonder if casual users of the system who have no idea how the remote works will have as easy a time diagnosing the issue. Especially those who might open their Wii up for the first time on Christmas day with the tree lit up. That was my experience, as well. As you know, the front of the Wii remote is actually an IR camera, and it's running an image-processing algorithm that finds the positions of the IR beacons embedded in the "sensor" bar. My understanding is that the code is actually implemented in hardware onboard the remote, so it's presumably pretty simple. I'm guessing it makes the assumption that there will be exactly two bright spots in the image, and the presence of red Christmas lights violates that assumption. The sad thing is, a more complex sensor bar pattern would have fixed this problem. For example, if the sensor bar blinked at some known frequency, the remote could easily disregard any non-blinking lights. Another solution would be to have added more lights in the sensor bar. For example, imagine a sequence of 5 or more lights in a row equally spaced along the bar. Then any spots of light in the image that were not co-linear could be ignored. There are, of course, many other possible solutions, and I'm a bit disappointed that Nintendo didn't pursue them. The remote could have easily been more robust.
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