Johnny Lee's Wii-nnovations blow TED's collective mind

89 Comments by Griffin McElroy Apr 12th 2008 8:00PM
Filed under: Hacks, Nintendo Wii

We've all witnessed the incredible ways that technomancer Johnny Lee can put a Wiimote to good use, but apparently, attendees of the TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) conference were unaware of the handheld peripheral's vast potential. You can actually hear their minds crackle, then implode as Lee shows off two of his cost-efficient tech demos -- the multi-touch whiteboard, and 3-D head tracking (which was further confirmed to be in EA/Speilburg's Boom Blox as an easter egg). Like all Johnny Lee videos, we can guarantee this to be the coolest thing you've seen today -- unless, of course, you've just watched the entire "American Ninja" quintology.

Tags: boom-blox, boomblox, conference, ea, head-tracking, johnny-lee, johnnylee, multi-touch, spielberg, ted, whiteboard

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(Page 1) Reader Comments

Ranus Studios: Apr 12th 2008; 8:02PM

I'd go gay for him and his sexy brain.

Trickob: Apr 12th 2008; 8:10PM

You're making several big assumptions there...

...I just don't want to see you get hurt

Tamachan87: Apr 13th 2008; 9:59AM

As would I.

jynxycat: Apr 12th 2008; 8:15PM

Lack of volume control irks me.

nerrrrrrd: Apr 12th 2008; 8:22PM

yes we're all dependent on embedded volume control to adjust the audio. What will we do now?!

Remmik: Apr 16th 2008; 11:20AM

EXACTLY! what I was peeved at. Trying to watch this video, late at night (with my lover asleep nearby) and too lazy to get up to turn down the computer speakers (that are out of reach) and for some reason my "Speaker" icon is no longer showing up on my task bar anymore. arhgg..scramble for control panel!

As for the content...Parlor tricks but kudos (or Koodos if you like african game) on the initiative to bring forth a simple idea whilst I sit (lay) on my lazy ass 4 feet away from my 61" Samsung HDTV I use as a monitor to play Battlefield2 and surf the net looking for free porn (ha-ha just joking....about 1 of these).

elmersglue: Apr 13th 2008; 5:28AM

@remmik

To get the speaker icon back, go to the volume controls via the control panel, then uncheck the box that says "place volume icon in the taskbar" then click apply. Then check the box again, and click apply once more. Happened to me before too.

Remmik: Apr 19th 2008; 9:09PM

@elmersglue
Thanks, that worked. I did go and check there but saw it was checked and didn't know what was up. I did just install ATI HD2600xt with HDMI output and intagrated HD sound for viewing on my 61" monitor (ha I'm loving it...I seriously do have it within arms reach!) and had alot of issues with drivers so it might have something to do with that.

Cephas: Apr 12th 2008; 8:24PM

Hell!

rv: Apr 12th 2008; 8:31PM

o!

Love the bmw ad!

rv: Apr 12th 2008; 8:33PM

Oh yeah, one of my teachers had very similar whiteboard/projector technology in high school, so im not impressed by that.

rv: Apr 12th 2008; 8:36PM

but the head tracking is sweet.

MattLoter: Apr 12th 2008; 8:38PM

Yeah but the point is that your teacher's school paid a ton more for it.

Jansperus: Apr 12th 2008; 10:58PM

Matt, the point is wasted on some people.

Ethan: Apr 13th 2008; 9:08AM

My school spent an absolute tonne on whiteboards, they bought about 20. If it was this cheap it could be more ubiquitous and therefore actually useful, it was more of an occasional toy otherwise.

Haggard: Apr 13th 2008; 5:01PM

My school got about 20 too, sad fact is we rarely use them anyway.

What I find most exciting is that computer screen or TV manufacturers could build IR cameras into their products for about twenty quid more, and you'd have 3D gaming.

This is also good because in this type of 3D, the only extra thing the game has to do is move the camera's position in the game world, whereas in existing 3D monitors (like in a 3D film) you have to wear the red and blue goggles, and the computer has to render each one seperately, literally doubling the amount of graphics processing needed.

John McPoop: Apr 12th 2008; 8:27PM

I saw the youtube video a while ago about the headtracking and I do think that true 3-D games are the future for video games ... I have thought about a holographic video game much like the images in a star wars movie ... So you actually see the entire universe of the game play out in your living room ... But, SONY has also experimented with head tracking using only the Eye Toy and although it does not work as well as Johnny lee's device it certainly looks promising as well ... I have also seen applications of Televisions with the built in capability to have true multiplayer gaming ... Its hard to explain (it was on Engadget a while back) but it had the ability to produce two different images in one screen ... You had to wear special glasses but with this device two people could play Gran Turismo and not need split screen ... From each players perspective it would look like they were the only ones playing the game ... But when you looked at the TV without the glasses you could clearly see two overlapping images at once ... Some pretty amazing stuff going on in the gaming industry ... The actual 3-d popping out of the screen (head tracking) is the most exciting to me ... I would love to play say Gears Of war and be ducking in front of a wall thats actually appears to be a few feet in front of my TV ... 3-D images are not meant to be seen flat on a televison

Fernando Rocker: Apr 12th 2008; 8:40PM

Johny Lee > Sony engineers

Noshino: Apr 12th 2008; 9:03PM

Johnny Lee: The man that can make more and better uses of the Wiimote than Nintendo.

ThornedVenom (Harley Quinn Defense Force): Apr 12th 2008; 9:05PM

Think Johnny Lee can invent something with the WiiFit board?

Lololwowwow: Apr 12th 2008; 9:43PM

"But, SONY has also experimented with head tracking using only the Eye Toy and although it does not work as well as Johnny lee's device it certainly looks promising as well ."

Err, no. It worked perfectly with the Eye Toy and was the exact same tech demo johnny used. Dunno where you're getting your info man but this works just as well on the Ps3 as it does with the Wii.

John McPoop: Apr 12th 2008; 11:39PM

@Lolowowo...

I got my evidence from the video posted on MTV ... If it does work just as well then the camera man was messing it up because it did not seem to work as well to me ... But, I hope we see it here soon and not as an easter egg in an EA game either

Psaakyrn: Apr 13th 2008; 1:15AM

Nintendo provides the hardware. It is up to the software defelopers to implement them, there's nothing whicu states that you cannot use the hardware in whichever manner. Now, the point is that it still uses additional hardware, but people are already kind of tiffed at Nintendo with their "added periphal" controller setup. I'd think it's not impossible (probably likely) for a game to provide some additional hardware to encourage these capabilities (after all, people do often buy games with unique periphals..).

Another point: this demonstrates the kind of quality these controllers have: they're not built for any one idea, but as a high quality device such that one can use it for other purposes.

superaktieboy: Apr 13th 2008; 3:31AM

lol johnny lee owns nintendo, sony and microsoft engineers, but mostly nintendo, coz he was the one who came up with these ideas, and none of the engineers :P

SamuraiD: Apr 13th 2008; 7:24AM

"Err, no. It worked perfectly with the Eye Toy and was the exact same tech demo johnny used. Dunno where you're getting your info man but this works just as well on the Ps3 as it does with the Wii."

That's false. I've tested the EyeToy and even the PlayStation EYE (for PS3) and neither work as well as Johnny Lee's invention. That's down to the actual infrared camera in the Wii Remote (hardware) rather than the generic camera lens that the PlayStation EYE and EyeToy that uses software to do what the Wii Remote hardware already does.

JangoGod: Apr 12th 2008; 8:32PM

This guy is awesome.

I Love Bowser: Apr 13th 2008; 6:27AM

More awesome than me.

I'm Bowser.

fuze9: Apr 12th 2008; 8:40PM

really, I couldn't be happier he's getting this kind of serious attention by developers. He's illustrating an emerging paradigm: the feedback cycle of new technology. I can only hope companies can capitalize on that productively and thoughtfully (as opposed to Wii shovelware in the wake of trendy gimmicks)

Tarvus Domicus: Apr 12th 2008; 8:44PM

Hell Yeah!!!

I'm sure Nintendo is well under way with the Wii's successor and I'm wondering if they were aware of these new developments and will be incorporating them or is it a quick scramble back to the drawing board.

One thing's for sure: The next console war will spawn some blown minds!!!

Sabastian Chadwick McGirt: Apr 12th 2008; 8:56PM

Why hasn't Nintendo hired this man?

elmersglue: Apr 13th 2008; 5:41AM

Better yet, microsoft should hire him. With the rumored "Wii-like" remote they're creating for the 360, they should totally start to implement something like this and totally surprise everyone with an "innovation" that neither sony nor nintendo "have". I put those in quotes cuz clearly its not microsofts innovation and clearly the wii is capable. i just think it would be awesome if microsoft used it first in collaboration with a company like Epic for Gears 3. hahaha, one can dream cant he?

finnith: Apr 13th 2008; 12:03PM

The FPSes would play a lot better with head-tracking.

Lupo: Apr 13th 2008; 10:17PM

they cant hear him over the collective cackle of intellectuals

Obie: Apr 12th 2008; 9:07PM

Nintendo better snatch him up quick for the "Wii 2"
or someone else will!

Moofree: Apr 12th 2008; 9:12PM

"WiiII"

jackbauer(ssbb:0087-2222-7531): Apr 12th 2008; 9:26PM

or in japanese wii ni

ThornedVenom (Harley Quinn Defense Force): Apr 13th 2008; 12:02AM

The joke works both in Japanese AND in English!

elmersglue: Apr 13th 2008; 5:33AM

why not just "WII" haha

Ringo: Apr 13th 2008; 8:39AM

Wii Wii!

RobLink (MKWii code : 0989 1866 6646): Apr 13th 2008; 9:55AM

Wii ii? Wiiii? Who knows.....

Mills and Boom: Apr 13th 2008; 12:51PM

Isn't it just MS and Sony who mindlessly plop numbers on the end of consoles? Nintendo come up with a new name for each system.

theturtle363: Apr 12th 2008; 9:12PM

This guy will invent the holodeck

Poisoned Al: Apr 12th 2008; 9:56PM

Which will spark the end of the human race, because nobody will ever leave them.

Misquito: Apr 12th 2008; 10:02PM

Only if you can have sex with the holodeck people.

Carl Abrams: Apr 12th 2008; 11:11PM

Well, the technology already exists for virtual sex for men. Apparently there is a device you can hook to your plumbing to stimulate you while you're watching appropriate action on a screen.

Now, let's get the tractor/pressor beams available, and THEN we're talking holodeck.

samfish: Apr 13th 2008; 4:31AM

"Which will spark the end of the human race, because nobody will ever leave them."

Of course they will. When the program inevitably goes corrupt and Abe Lincoln tries to murder you, the only way to escape him is to get outside the Holodeck.

Poisoned Al: Apr 13th 2008; 9:21AM

Still, we should kill Lee to be on the safe side!

tc: Apr 13th 2008; 10:49AM

Simulated Evil Lincoln is BACK!

Courtney: Apr 13th 2008; 12:20PM

@samfish

So, previously someone stated that we would only remain in holodecks to have sex with simulated beings, and you've said we would only leave because of evil murderous Abe Lincolns...

Putting these two ideas together, what exactly are you doing with old Abe in the Holodeck to make him want to murder you? :P