WiiDraw

WiiDraw is a new and exciting way to interact with TV. It allows you to draw on top of the images that appear on your TV screen, using a Nintendo WiiMote as a pen. It also currently supports this following functionality:

* Draw on Screen (hold down A button)
* Clear Screen (shake wiimote)
* Erase part of the screen (hold down home button)
* Change size of cursor (+ or – buttons)

Here’s a short video introduction:

Why use WiiDraw? Imagine giving a lecture on a classic film and commenting on the director’s use of space. Now imagine you could actually draw lines on the screen, demonstrating what you mean. Maybe you’re watching sports and want to break down a play like the announcers do. Or maybe you’re just watching the State of the Union and you want to draw a funny mustache on George Bush’s face.

WiiDraw is a tool that will allow you to do any of these things. Whether being used as a teaching instrument or just for amusing yourself and your friends, Wiidraw provides a simple interface for doodling on top of live images on normal TV screen.

Using a Nintendo WiiMote, a parallax propeller, and an ir led, these devices create a network that intercepts a standard video signal and overlays it with the user’s drawings.

WiiDraw is a project I developed for my final project in Tom Igoe’s Network Objects class. It’s the a project I’ve wanted to develop for a long time and with a lot of help from people at ITP, I was able to accomplish it. Special thanks to Tom Igoe, Tymm Twillman, Estee Wah, Dave Spector, and Anderson Miller. I’d also like to thank Mike Santos and Erich Walter, who developed the original idea for WiiDraw with me.

Presentation

NEWS

•06/06/08: Wired Magazine visited ITP and wrote this article for their blog that features WiiDraw.

•06/04/08: WiiDraw goes on display as part of the ITP Summer Gallery 2008.

•05/12/08: WiiDraw debuts in ITP Spring Show 2008