Controlling movement with a Wii Balance Board

The Wii board is made up of four pressure sensors in each corner, I can't think of any pratical way of using it to detect a crouching position. You could set the turn actions to crouch instead. If you need crouch you would be better of using something like webcam tracking, or make use of the hydra controller to know when you are down low.

Maybe it's possible to use the modifier threshold to detect crouching, but I personally use it for running.

I like the idea of using an Android for crouching in combination with the Balance Board for moving :)
Do you have the code/app online?

I also think the Balance Board is the best solution for walking, because it is affordable, doesn't take much space and you don't tangle the cables as you don't actually turn around.

This was just an experiment. nothing that can be published.
I'll try to finish this once I get my rift and a wii board

I recently got my Rift and have been trying out games using the balance board. Using it while standing is difficult as the lack of position tracking means that when you lean forward, your view does not also lean, which creates an effect that I can only describe as running while very drunk. Sitting down is a lot more practical, but requires more effort in pushing down your feet.

If you you want to pair up an additional control, why not use a standard Wii mote, the accelerometer data is easily accessable ( sadly MotionPlus is not ) by the code that powers WiiBalanceWalker and bluetooth has less latency that going over Wifi. If you can reliably attach it to your upper body you could detect leaning over.

I actually created an Android PhoneGap App + .NET server to relay sensor data and use a phone as an analog joystick, but there are issues where if the screen turns off, the app gets put to sleep or runs slow, if you keep the screen awake, it drains your battery like crazy, and there is the risk of damaging your phone. So next up I am going to get a used PS3 Move controller and try that out.

Here is a link to keep the android sensor awake when the screen is off : http://nosemaj.org/android-persistent-sensors

"whoisrich" wrote:
I recently got my Rift and have been trying out games using the balance board. Using it while standing is difficult as the lack of position tracking means that when you lean forward, your view does not also lean, which creates an effect that I can only describe as running while very drunk.

This can be mitigated by controlling how fast you move when you lean. Most games have you moving at a crazy fast speed, you lean forward to move and it can feel very disorienting, as you have found out! Moving with a wii board is much more comfortable at natural speeds.

We have some things in the works to approximate small head movements, while not as good as positional tracking it should be better than nothing!

I got a chance to try out the new version of the program the other day. Great stuff. I'll try to work on another video with it when I get the chance. I really really wish I had a Occulus Rift to try with this. Right now it's a bit difficult for me to stand up on the balance board and view my computer screen at eye level. Sitting down and using the balance board as foot pedals was something I was really glad to be able to do. I need to find a racing game to try it with. What is the best way to disconnect the Balance Board once you are done? It seems like pressing the search button near the battery pack does the job, but I wasn't sure if I was doing things correctly.

I've noticed that no one has posted these videos of the Wii Board being used as a control device on r/oculus. Does anyone object to me posting these videos to spread the word about this amazing software, or would you rather this be kept relatively quiet for now?...

Good gravy I wish I had an occulus to try this with. I'm cool with people sharing the videos. I don't know how GreyCubeTube feels, but I would think that he would be ok with things as well.

I'm fine with all videos and postings :)

The Wii board will remain awake while the bluetooth connection goes undisturbed, so if you have finished and not planning to shutdown your PC, you can: Unplug and replug the bluetooth adapter, or disable and enable the bluetooth adapter in Device Manager, or remove and put back a battery, or even remove the board from the bluetooth device list but that will break permanent pairing.

The 0.3 version tells the Wii board to only send updates on pressure changes, so battery drain while you are not using the board is minimal, and only an issue if you leave your PC turned on for days.