Ken Moore's Wiimote theremin hack explores the final frontier

by Griffin McElroy { Nov 30th 2008 at 2:15PM }

Are you worried that your Wii remote's innards are atrophying during the recent dry spell of Wii titles aimed at the discerning "core gamer"? We recently stumbled upon a great way of giving your one-handed peripheral a nice workout -- using it to make music. Oh, no -- not like that. We're speaking of the latest Wiimote homebrew, from the musical mind of Ken Moore, which effectively turns your controller into a theremin. You know, the only musical instrument that you play without touching. What, your parents didn't make you take theremin lessons in grade school?

We've got a history lesson and tech demo posted after the break, as well as Mr. Moore's attempt at the opening theme for Star Trek. The original theme, that is -- not that wretched "Faith of the Heart" cover.

[Via Destructoid]

Tags: ken-moore, star-trek, theremin, wii, wiimote

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

godemperor @ Nov 30th 2008 2:22PM

interesting...

Bowser Rogozhin @ Nov 30th 2008 2:24PM

Theremin? Sounds moar liek pheromone, amirite? Hmm, Wii.

wise_old_bird @ Nov 30th 2008 2:29PM

I don't understand why there are so many high production value videos like this where they're using the Wiimote. There are other cheaper cameras that can read infrared (and read it better, and don't require hacks).

These videos always come off more as a Nintendo PR video than about the 'hack' that was designed.

Dr. @ Nov 30th 2008 2:43PM

It's due to the fact that the wiimote is common and has another primary use. Sure you could use a generic infrared camera, but at the end of the day it's just a camera. Nothing notable about that.

Cheezeman3000 @ Nov 30th 2008 2:48PM

But do those cameras have bluetooth and can they be commonly found in your typical department store?

Darren Tilley @ Nov 30th 2008 3:21PM

The WiiMote isn't just some infrared camera. The actual infrared tracking is accomplished in hardware right inside the WiiMote. It then sends that position data via bluetooth to a PC. (No processing wasted with tracking code). Also, with an infrared camera, you would have to write the tracking code yourself.

Also the work "hacking" is a little strong. You just need a bluetooth adapter for your PC. Not really a Ben Heck project by any means.

sinai @ Nov 30th 2008 3:52PM

you're all wrong. it's because of the same reason everyone makes terrible games for the wii: it's the supposed hot thing right now, and people who are attention whore try to associate themselves as much as they can with the new fads.

frank @ Nov 30th 2008 2:32PM

Wow...this makes Wii Music look silly. Hopefully Nintendo will become friendlier to the homebrew environment when they see projects like this.

Dr. @ Nov 30th 2008 2:47PM

This doesn't have a whole lot to do with homebrew, or at least not the variety they care about. I think Nintendo is quite happy to have people using their controller for new and interesting things like this.

The homebrew they're constantly trying to get the upper hand on is the kind that lets people play games without paying for them.

Tez @ Nov 30th 2008 3:24PM

THIS makes it look silly?

frank @ Nov 30th 2008 8:59PM

True, Wii Music makes itself look silly. And I hope Nintendo is studying this project for ideas, or encourages people to "mass" produce it.

Markez @ Nov 30th 2008 2:33PM

Wow the audio on that totally weirded out my dog.

James @ Nov 30th 2008 2:35PM

Yeah but the wiimote is popular(30 million + wiimotes out there probably), probably alot cheaper than a camera and it only comes in one model (so you don't need diffrent software for diffrent camera).

F1shBone @ Nov 30th 2008 3:02PM

Talk of Theramins reminds me of that killer Portishead song.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2fBwsB6px8&feature=related

Cobra951 @ Nov 30th 2008 5:15PM

Thanks for that link. Portishead's Dummy is a terrific find for me. I didn't even know about this band. One good turn deserves another:

http://synthwise.com/feeds/sound-design/buy-portisheads-theremin-at-auction

I was searching for whether they used a real theremin or not. According to 2 different comments I found, they used a keyboard-based synthesizer. According to this link, they said they used a theremin, but they lied, and later went on to use the real theremin in live concerts.

The Wiimote embodies all the tech necessary for such applications, and it's out there in massive quantities for cheap. *Not* using where applicable it is what smacks of fanboyism.

Biff_McFresh @ Dec 1st 2008 5:20PM

You're in for a treat Cobra, Portishead is amazing.

Robert @ Nov 30th 2008 3:42PM

Neat...

Courtney @ Nov 30th 2008 3:45PM

That was worth watching just for the little history lesson.

atghiphop @ Nov 30th 2008 4:23PM

Joystiq, thanks for that full screen Ozzy Osbourne ad, it's a great way to retain readers.

Mitsuo @ Nov 30th 2008 4:45PM

I see not this ad you speak of.

mindshed @ Nov 30th 2008 6:47PM

The only thing I've seen is people complaining about this ad that I've never seen. I think joystiq is just part of a secret internet cult that is trying to cull the masses of people that still use internet explorer and/or no popup, adware, or virus protection.

atghiphop @ Nov 30th 2008 7:29PM

What's weird is I use firefox with adBlock. I don't see the add all the time, usually just when I try to vote on a comment. It takes up the entire page and next time it happens I'll screenshot it for the non believers. The worst part is, the ad has a "close" button, but it doesn't work. My only option is to refresh the page.