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As hardcore gamers play existing video games, casual gamers are taking over the whole video game console market in the U.S. ahead of the summer season (my dad even has a Wii!). Recently released figures by NPD Group indicate not only increase in the general spending on video entertainment, but also overwhelming advantage of Nintendo gaming platform over the Microsoft Xbox and Sony PlayStation.

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Johnny Chung Lee unlocks the Wii’s hidden potential.

In a collection of videos, notable for their lucid explanations, the Ph.D. graduate student from CMU’s Human-Computer Interaction Institute shows exactly how versatile the “Wiimote” system can be. Among the uses he convincingly demonstrates: a virtual-reality head-tracker; a virtual whiteboard on a wall, tabletop, and laptop screen; and a Minority Report-style arm-waving and finger-pointing multitouch user interface.

As of September 2007, Nintendo has sold over 13 million Wii game consoles. This significantly exceeds the number of Tablet PCs in use today according to even the most generous estimates of Tablet PC sales. This makes the Wii Remote one of the most common computer input devices in the world. It also happens to be one of the most sophisticated. It contains a 1024×768 infrared camera with built-in hardware blob tracking of up to 4 points at 100Hz. This significantly out performs any PC “webcam” available today. It also contains a +/-3g 8-bit 3-axis accelerometer also operating at 100Hz and an expandsion port for even more capability.

So that’s the geeky shit. Check out this video and have yer mind blown.

Check the full article on CNet’s News.com here. You can also visit Johnny’s Wii project page to see more examples, as well as instructions on how you can do this yourself!