1/8/2008 - Tracking fingers with the Wii Remote

A lot of people now are trying to duplicate the whole gesture interface technology they conceptualized in the movie Minority Report. While it seems like it might be tiring to wave your hands all day instead of using a keyboard and mouse on a table, it was very cool to see in the movie. There aren't any products out there now that completely gives you the exact Minority Report experience, but some clever programmers are getting very close with some surprising help from the Nintendo Wii.

When Nintendo presented the Wii remote interface, they made it seem like a magic wand. But there is some high technology built into the remote, and while many point out the accelerometer inside, some programmers are using the infrared sensor to create some fantastic applications. One of the leading individuals in this area is Johnny Lee, of Carnegie Mellon University. Here he is demonstrating how he's able to use the Wii remote to track his fingers. We are closer to the year 2054 than we think.