Wiimote Whiteboard

Hello! - has anyone successfully set up a Wiimote Whiteboard using their Mac? I have the Java version of the software downloaded, but am not sure what I need to do to:
1) make the software recognize the Mac's bluetooth card
2) sync the Wiimote with that bluetooth

Ideas/suggestions? I have found tons of websites on this, but none seem to really answer the question. I am hoping to get this working with OSX, not by running bootcamp with Vista.

Tags: Classroom, Tools

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Permalink Reply by Kiwi Commons on July 31, 2009 at 11:12am

Hi Erin,

Johnny Lee's video on the Wii Remote hack stunned the world -- who doesn't want an interactive whiteboard of their own!

Though I haven't set this system up yet, I am looking forward to trying this one out for myself.

I would first recommend checking to see that the Bluetooth card in your Mac is turned on. It is my understanding that since the 10.5.2 system update that Mac users have reported their Bluetooth turning itself off after each reset. While you can adjust the Bluetooth preferences from your System Preferences pane, I found the easiest thing is to download a ON/OFF Bluetooth widget such as 'Bluetooth Switch Widget 2.0' (http://junecloud.com/software/mac/bluetooth-switch.html).

Additional information on Mac OSX Bluetooth settings (for Panther) can be found here: http://www.informit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=169576&seqNum=13

Once you're certain that the Bluetooth card in your Mac is functioning -- boot up the Java file and follow the installation instructions. It should take you through a step-by-step installation (video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmdLubEhTYw) I hope it is not more complicated than this, however, I did run across a few people who required to uninstall the software and re-download it.

Also, please don't forget your IR-pen to utilize with the software. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I568NyZLJkY&feature=related)

I hope this is of some use to you. Good luck and please let us know how it goes!

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Permalink Reply by Andrew Heidrich on August 2, 2009 at 12:07pm

I actually found the Mac version of Wiimote Whiteboard much easier to use than a PC version. I haven't used it since Tiger, though, and don't know much about what later versions of it might be capable of... I switched to a PC version that let me use multiple WiiMotes and have been thrilled with that ever since. Anyway, I found a Mac DMG here:

WiiMote Whiteboard DMG

And basically if I remember, you just make sure BT is on, tell the software to discover the Wiimote, hit two buttons on the Wiimote to get it discovered, and then calibrate to your screen/projector. It was easy as pie.