Controlling movement with a Wii Balance Board

I have some problems with setting it up. It was working fine for the first time, but after installing vjoy, I am getting these readings (raw weight values remain unchanged, like sensors weren't reacting at all):



I tried to:
- uninstall vjoy driver
- reset BT device
- install different BT stack
- set it up again with windows and with wii balance walker itself
- delete WBW preference folder
- rename WBW .exe

I am still getting weird readings EVERY time I connect the device (and it's driving me bonkers), can anyone help me?

Try replacing the batteries. Your Wii Board may work and it may seem like your batteries aren't low, but just try putting fully charged, fresh batteries in and see what happens.

"Infinimitsu" wrote:
Try replacing the batteries. Your Wii Board may work and it may seem like your batteries aren't low, but just try putting fully charged, fresh batteries in and see what happens.

Wow, batteries - that was the case! I've installed unused batteries that came with WBB, and they turned out to be old and out of juice. Thanks a ton! :P

I am still getting these "not a number" values alternating with numbers (in offset and balance ratio readings), not sure if it is meant to be like that..

As promised, here are some of my thoughts on using the Wii Balance Board with the Oculus Rift, or more specifically, using this software, Wii Balance Walker.

My initial assumption was that I wasn't going to have any of the negative affects of the Rift and it wouldn't affect my sense of motion at all. I assumed that I would be able to just stand on the Wii Board with the Rift on and not lose balance whatsoever. Boy was I wrong. The Rift blew away my expectations as far as its immersive capabilities.

The very first demo I fired up was the Tuscany Demo. I set up the Wii Board in front of a stool, with a PS3 controller connected to my laptop. I pulled on the Rift for the first time and was agape in awe. Maybe I should have given myself more time with messing with the Rift, but I looked around the Tuscany Demo while seated on the stool for a minute or two and decided it was time to try to use the Wii Board. The Wii Board was about a foot in front of the stool, so I had to peek under the Rift a little and try to get situated. This brings in my first major request after using this setup:

I would really love to be able to map "Enable Wii Board/Disable Wii Board" to a controller or a key. Preferably a controller. Also, it would be great to be able to map "Set balance as center" to a key or controller button so that I can get a true center of balance without leaning over to use the mouse or asking someone else to press the mouse button.

It was extremely jarring to step on the Wii Board while half strapped into the Rift. It took me a second to realize that I needed to pay complete attention to the real world until I was fully upright on the Wii Board, the pull the Rift down over my face. Once I did get the Rift back on I was pressing my face into the wall above the fireplace in the Tuscany Demo. It felt like every slight lean of my body would hurl me in one direction or another. I quickly had to grab onto the table in front of me to keep from falling over and I delicately stepped off the Wii Board while sliding the Rift up over my face.

After a rocky start, I decided to pull the Wii Board right up against the front of my stool, so that I could operate the Wii Board while sitting in the stool, or if I felt confident enough to stand, I could sit down quickly to keep from falling over if I stated losing my balance. This setup ended up being my favorite. After tweaking some values in the Wii Balance Walker software I was able to finesse my virtual movements and was very comfortable with moving around in the virtual environment using nothing but the Wii Board for my cardinal movements. Although, this brings me to my next issue with this setup right now:

Turning while moving forward does not work well at all. I twiddled with the settings and tried switching the strafe and turn settings and I just never settled on something that worked well. Perhaps I could have eventually found a comfortable configuration for this, but I was extremely limited on time and decided that turning using the controller would do for the time being.

I never really did get comfortable enough to try standing on the Wii Board while moving around again. Maybe with two Wii Boards next to each other, one for each foot, so that you can widen your stance a little and have better balance. Maybe it just takes getting used to. I really like using it with the stool, though. I would like to see if it's possible to use with some kind of kneeling chair. In all, it was far more immersive, to me, than just using the controller for inputs. My time using it was very limited, and I think this has a lot of promise. Someone needs to incorporate this directly into their demo and fine tune it for a particular experience before more people will become interested.

It will be a few months before I have my Rift in my possession again and can experiment more. I really hope using the Wii Board gets more attention, though. I don't think enough people have tried this.

"7hny" wrote:
Wow, batteries - that was the case! I've installed unused batteries that came with WBB, and they turned out to be old and out of juice. Thanks a ton! :P

I am still getting these "not a number" values alternating with numbers (in offset and balance ratio readings), not sure if it is meant to be like that..

No problem. You can just enable the Board input and open notepad and start leaning in all directions to test the board out. You should get some WASD in there if it works and it should move your mouse cursor around. I hope your experience goes well!

This is a very interesting idea. Something I will definitely be trying out when I get the RIFT. Currently I have FAAST configured with the Kinect, and will be trying that out as well. Basically running in place activates W (moving forward) and leaning back activates S (move backward). Looking forward to seeing how both systems work out with the Rift and Hydra. :-)

The two problems with using the Wii Balance board with VR are that:

1) You have to be careful not to fall off of the thing - which isn't so easy when you have a VR headset on.
2) You can't jump. Because (aside from the risk of falling off) the Wii balance board breaks easily if a 250lb guy like me jumps on it. (You don't want to know how I know this!) It's rated up to 400lbs of static force - but the impulsive forces when you jump are too much for it.

I took the idea of using pressure sensors and moved them into your shoes - which fixes these issues perfectly.

Not a bad idea (and exuse my terrible english in advance).

I find it easy to get used to, but the problem is, that it wont support "hardcore" gaming. You might be able to control direction of movement (even speed if well configured, trough that makes the control harder-needs a big part of precision footwork), but wont be able to react so fast as you could with wasd.

I personally wanted to make a thread abaut my idea, but "comparing this idea wit my own" wourks as well, since it will show why "my" idea is better. (i understand its arrogant to say this but still, you will see).

First of all, we all understand that Occulus Rift-s problem is the movement control. So lets start with the most basic "control" FPS games.
All you need is sight and aim (the O.R. V.R.). And movement in 4 directions (if well made and is 3 d then 6 since you need up and down-Jump-Duck) And at least 2 "action keys". An interaction and an shoot button.
I say lets stay with 6 buttons.
Considering you want "full" V.R. feeling, you buy a "gaming gun", that is basically turned on for cursor tracting, but you still "look araund" with Occulus Rift, giving basically realitity feeling, excluding movement. Now since you can not use your other hand to wasd, nor do you use Wii balance board like items, you still need to use buttons in a considerable reachable place, like the gun itself.

The problem is, it would still be hard to use 6 or more buttons and irrititaning, trough would offer better control for sure.
So i came to think abaut solutions and realized, buttons are so bacwards evolution.
Players keep coming up with more and more drastic side solutions, but wont realize, that if "we want to evolve the gaming to its next level with a next generation item, we need next generation control". Lets go to extremes. If it is virtual reality let it be !
Technology is till not advanced enought for it?
IT IS!

A few days ago i read a post abaut Harvard-s students creating mind wave reader, that could control that tennis like game. It was basically "up or down" movement. It was checking "what you think abaut your hand". at first you had to put your hand face down or face up, but later on you only had to think abaut it. So basically it was "mind control".
So i assume 6 "buttons" are not that hard to implement.
Here is a post abaut this. But anyone interested look it up.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-20957846

I STRONGLY advise this for Occulus Rift. You want Virtual Realitity. Its time to go to extremes. You thout "Matrix" or "Sword Art Online" is a hundred years ahead.....think again ...soon.

Brain sensors have been around for a few years now. Originally as inputs for paralyzed people to control things such as wheelchairs to give them some mobility. Some were tied directly to prosthetic limbs as a means of gross movement. I'm definitely not an expert, but that's the broad strokes of what I remember reading about in recent years.

I did run into a guy that had a gallery shooter hooked up to one of these at GDC in 2009. It was fun to play, though it was simply point at where you wanted to shoot then think "loudly" to fire.

If you're looking at a sensor that will have you zipping around in games with the power of your mind, you've got a few years yet to wait. Given time they may improve to the point they'll replace more traditional systems for input, but they aren't there yet.

Looking at the hardware you linked, they're still limited to brain training apps, they can't go as far as controlling a cursor with it yet. From what I can tell of the single app that they're offering, it just tracks your brain waves and gives you feedback at the end of their test.

Our brain training system integrates the intellectual and emotional for maximum effect. Other brain training apps score you at the end, but often with no personalized options or suggestions to improve your score for next time. A scoring system is like getting the number of calories burned or average heart rate at the end of an exercise.

Second, Muse provides you more detailed information showing you exactly how your brain is behaving just like a heart rate monitor shows you real time heart rates throughout an exercise so you adjust your level of activity (e.g. focus on burning more calories or fat, or improving your cardio) to achieve your goals.

The nice thing about the balance board is the cheap cost for the varied input that it allows consumers. Integration is also relatively simple.

Another input system you may be interested in are the omni directional treadmills that have come to the forefront with the Oculus fever. The two main ones right now are the Cyberith Virtualizer and the Virtuix Omni

It looks very exhausting to use a mind mouse for games:


Some time ago, I also watched another video where someone played an fps, and he really had to focus on the actions he wanted to do. Definately not for hardcore gamers yet..

I think the Myo would be a better solution for that.

I'm really looking forward for the Cyberith. To me, it looks better than the Virtuix Omni because you can also sit down and it already includes tracking.
Check out the GTA 4 video: