Human-Machine Interfaces with Wii Remote

I've just seen what Johnny Chung Lee is capable to do with a $40 Nintendo Wii remote controller. Listen to this Ted talk and see it yourself.

I think that this is just the beginning of a great thing. Not only because of the possible wide spread of its uses because its low cost, as Johhny says in his talk, but because it maybe the start of a brand new set of HIDs.

I'm not talking just about Wii. I'm talking about the way Johnny interacts with the computer. For the whiteboard demo the use is obvious and already well stablished with interactive or digital whiteboards (although more expensive), and the possibilities for the game industry, specially for Nintendo, are clear too. But I think it can be the basis for a lot of other uses: better car driving aid systems, for example to know if the driver is getting slept and reduce speed and warn him is so, to be more productive with the computer (I often said, when I'm working with my computer with 2 screens attached, that the OS should be clever enough to set active the window that I'm looking to), helping impaired people to interact with electronic home devices and computers easily or as a cheap implementation for an interface similar to Microsoft Surface.

There are plenty of uses for this kind of interface, and having it already working with Wii hardware makes it widely deployed already to a lot of home users. Right now, while I'm sitting in the sofa in front of TV writing this post, I think that it can be used too for the Wii, when working as a DVD player, to know if you're really looking the film and pausing it if you go away from your TV. Less remote controls in your hands (btw, I wear glasses, so I just need a couple of IR leds on it ;-) ).