Wiimote accelerometer input on Windows? (in 2013 - Glovepie alternative?)
- by user568458
There were a few options for getting accelerometer input into Windows using a Nintendo Wiimote.
As of mid 2013, these projects seem to be dead, corrupted with malware, or both.
Are there any tools out there that can do this that are still available (and not full of malware)?
Quick roundup of the options that used to exist, or that still exist but aren't suitable:
Glovepie, which used to be the most recommended option, appears to be dead: it's own website hacked, its creator's googlepages page full of strange stuff that sounds like hacker-humour about the end of the world... (I'd rather not link to them, very dubious stuff...), and lots of forum threads asking if it's a dead project with comments along the lines of "I heard that the author intends to return to it" dated 2011...
Wiiuse seems to be dead: its sourceforge page simply says "Error.", its own website has turned into a squatter page.
There apparently was an extension for Autohotkey that allowed Wiimote input, but I've seen warnings that this too is now full of malware (see final commentin above link)
Everything else I can find about using Wiimotes as input on Windows - for example, Johnny Lee Cheng's work - seems to be exclusively about using infrared or sensor bar, or tied to a specific purpose (e.g. FPS gaming). My main interest is in the accelerometer, and buttons if possible (although something that supports the IR stuff too would be ideal).
Is there anything that works for getting Wiimote accelerometer input into Windows that is reliable and not a malware-fest?
If anyone's interested in "Why?", it's to use the Wiimote as an audio / midi controller: to use movement, pitch, roll etc to modulate lots of different sound variables at once with one hand. Wiimotes are great for this, and Glovepie used to be the standard way to make this work (e.g. see for example this tutorial, and this one, ignore the unrelated video; I've also seen musicians using wiimote/glovepie setups at gigs, creating some really unique sounds). As of 2013, however, Glovepie seems to be a dead and thoroughly hacked project, sadly. Is there anything else?
With or without MotionPlus is fine (with would be better). If anyone knows of any worthy alternatives to Wiimotes in terms of price and quality that can be made to work with a PC, that would also be great: but in my research I coulnd't find any (here's a link to someone reaching the same conclusion).
found some potentially relevant stuff here, not had time to test any of it yet though -
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/2984450/using-accelerometer-in-wiimote-for-physics-practicals
