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Asus Release a Wiimote-Alike
Posted by
timothy
on Thu Aug 07, 2008 01:02 PM
from the sincerest-form dept.
from the sincerest-form dept.
arcticstoat writes "After attracting lots of media attention with the Eee PC, Asus has now turned its hand to producing a motion-sensitive controller like the Wiimote, called the Eee Stick. Looking unashamedly like a copy of a Wiimote and Nunchuk setup, the Eee Stick has two components — one with an analogue joystick, and one with a digital control pad — and both sticks have a rumble feature. The Eee Stick is currently planned to be bundled with various models of the Eee PC and Eee Box, but Asus says it can also theoretically work with any PC."
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I call this progress. (Score:2, Funny)
Finally an alternative to the mouse.
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C go. a ekrpat t.fxrapew frg cbo.bocyck. jnre!
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A keyboard — Dvorak or not — is not really an alternative to the mouse. If you believe it is, then I think I just met somebody I can beat in an FPS.
Re:I call this progress. (Score:5, Interesting)
Parent
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The trackball requires much less desk space ...
If you don't have room for a mouse pad, you have other problems.
... and also doesn't require constantly positioning your hand.
I've never understood this complaint. My mouse pad is 11" x 9", I almost never need to pick up the mouse. A track ball, on the other hand, is like having a 1-inch mouse pad, and requires continuous repositioning of the thumb. Granted your thumb is much lighter than a mouse, but how is picking up your thumb constantly better than picking up the mouse never?
From my experience, a lot of the RSI problems seem to be from reaching for the mouse.
Most RSI problems are in the wrist, which is a result of moving the mouse and typing.
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Not to mention trackballs being more accurate for FPS games =)
I never got this argument, everytime I've used a track ball it's all over the place and difficult to control. Even with the sensitivity turned down it's much more difficult to move in a straight line since the thumb joint has a circular motion...unless you're some kind of mutant that has sliding joints, then hail to evolution!
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I used to be a hard-core trackball enthusiast. I used them for years and years, and I've had an exotic collection of trackballs (my favourite was the Logitech Trackman Marble FX Wireless). But then I went to college, and all the labs had mice. Since I spent so many hours in the labs, my trackballs at home began to feel increasingly alien. I switched to mice, and haven't seen a reason to go back.
Back in the day, a couple things I liked about trackballs were that you didn't have a cord pulling your mouse
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Part of the problems arise from the asymmetric |/ position you get when working with a mouse or trackball.
That's why devices like mousetrapper [mousetrapper.com] is used by many who has problems. It is used kind of like a trackpad found on laptops, but instead of a non-tactile piece of plastic (or glass), it's a rubberized fabric that you move around.
Personally, I'd prefer one of these keyboards from IBM, though. [ibm.com]
With those, the position for using the mouse and the keyboard is exactly the same, since the pointing-device sits b
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This makes it great when you have to trace around something when editing a picture.
People still do that manually?
People usually do it using tablets, actually >:)
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My knee-jerk reaction to this was "YOUR DOING IT WRONG!!!!!" but i don't know anything about the trackball you used. The trackballs I use, all allow for the thumb to move the ball and my fingers to rest on the buttons while providing a comfortable resting place for the palm of my hand. I can get all around my screen by only moving my thumb (and also dominate at MechWarrior against my mouse using friends). Other trackball designs I've tried required controlling the ball with your middle finger, while keep
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so... (Score:2, Funny)
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So... (Score:4, Interesting)
It's an air mouse with extra buttons.
I _like_ the point and click functionality of the Wiimote. I do not like waving my hand in the air in every other direction to try and click on something.
Pointing? (Score:4, Insightful)
So they say this thing has a "pointer mode," but I don't see any external reference (akin to the Wii Remote's sensor bar). How does this thing determine its position in space if it doesn't have a point of reference?
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Analogue and rumble? (Score:2, Informative)
Didn't Nintendo just lose a law suit because they had controllers with analogue sticks and rumbling?
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Good idea (Score:2, Funny)
I wonder if you can do the same things... (Score:2, Informative)
that you can do with the wiimote like head tracking:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jd3-eiid-Uw [youtube.com]
low cost interactive whiteboard:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5s5EvhHy7eQ [youtube.com]
Finger tracking (ala minority report)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0awjPUkBXOU [youtube.com]
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Sensor bar? (Score:2)
Content? (Score:3, Insightful)
People bought the wii because of the compelling gameplay related to the controller... what software is being released for this thing. ASUS isn't in the content business, so I'm not sure where the software is going to come from. Probably nowhere.
Emulated homebrew to start it off (Score:2)
ASUS isn't in the content business, so I'm not sure where the software is going to come from.
Apart from the free and non-free games that work on GNU/Linux [happypenguin.org], Asus could start with ports from the GP32, GP2X, and (soon) Pandora communities, or perhaps an emulator that can run homebrew games [pdroms.de].
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Wait....you're not serious, are you?
(The link in your sig makes me feel embarrassed for you. "The Internet hate machine is out to get you?" Really? Chan much? Are you the little kid in his mom's basement doing "interpretive dance" or the middle-aged dude in the skirt playing DDR?)
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Lute Hero (Score:2)
Wiimote knockoff? (Score:2)
FPS controller (Score:4, Interesting)
Ever since I first used a Nunchuck on the Wii, I've thought it would make the perfect keyboard replacement for FPS games.
Think about it. In most FPSes, you use the keyboard to move. 100% digital, on/off movement - you're either pressing the key or you're not. With a Nunchuck, you can use the analog stick to move at different speeds. You can rotate it lengthwise to lean, flick it to jump, and tilt it down to crouch. There are two buttons, good for other random keyboard inputs (night vision goggles? use?).
Combine it with a 5-button wheel mouse and you should have enough controls for most any FPS.
Maybe this controller gets us a little closer to that.
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Think about it. In most FPSes, you use the keyboard to move. 100% digital, on/off movement - you're either pressing the key or you're not. With a Nunchuck, you can use the analog stick to move at different speeds.
And most of the time, rapid violent twists would be the optimum reaction. Maybe not all the time but very often you'd want to max out your movement and I think making the wiimoet work comfortably under those conditions would be difficult.
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Not the Wiimote.
Mouse and Nunchuck.
How about "Wheee!" Stick... (Score:2)
Oh, now that would just be *wrong* on so many levels.
Lets see, there is the Wii and now the eee...lets hope it doesn't turn out to be a shiii(t)eeee stick.
The flaws I see... (Score:3, Interesting)
Copying somebody else and doing a half-assed job is no way to succeed in business. You've got to copy somebody and then improve the idea to make an impact.
Get an infrared camera like the wiimote and put some straps with infrared LEDs on a player. You could use this for some real time basic motion capture. It won't be very accurate, but could be good enough to recognize a head nod/shake, a person pointing or waving and other basic actions. Now use this in WoW and suddenly your MMORPG is a lot more immersive.
Re:The flaws I see... (Score:4, Interesting)
The Wiimote is a perfectly usable pc peripheral. It's a somewhat low-resolution mouse replacement with some neat extra features. But the motion sensors by themselves are not the wiimote's main feature; the pointer is, which requires the sensor bar. Since this Asus device doesn't have the sensor bar, it's going to be far reduced in practicality from the wiimote.
Parent
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Of course, it would be nice if the Wiimote itself had good enough resolution to really use as a mouse. I'd love to play FPS games with it on my Linux PC.
And by FPS games I mean Portal.
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To take that a little further:
The accelerometers in the Wiimote SUCK -- hence this new "MotionPlus" attachment they've got in the pipline. They're so bad, they're frequently an impediment to gameplay -- e.g., Wii Golf is pretty much unplayable, 'cause the accelerometers can't detect putts reliably.
Price (Score:2)
You can use a standard Wiimote with your computer.
Is this more accurate, cheaper, or neither?
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Yes you can, but the Wiimote is hard to configure for the PC. The average person can't muddle their way through Glove Pie.
Redefining brand dilution (Score:2)
This is almost a textbook definition of driving a good brand into the ground. Asus started off with an awesome product (the Eee netbook), that was simple for consumers to wrap their heads around (small, cheap laptop). Based on it's popularity, Asus has decided to slap the "Eee" brand on a ton of products (monitors, mac mini clones, peripherals, and now a wiimote knockoff), thinking that the name alone will repeat the success.
On the contrary, I think this product pile-on is damaging the brand.
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A Practical Use (Score:2)
Sure, this seems like a 'rip-off' of Nintendo's controllers but it may have practical uses with a PC.
Would this be ideal for 3D modelling?
Imagine using this with something like Blender - instead of using the mouse and countless keystrokes you can intuitively use the Asus controller to work with the models.
It could also be used in presentations - architectural models can be easily navigated by the presenter to an audience.
I think this is a good idea and surprised how long it took someone to develop this for
Kind of what I've been looking for... (Score:2)
I've actually been looking for something like a remote control that holds like a Wii-mote but has a small trackball instead of a D-pad. I have my computer attached to the 42" HDTV and a wired setup is pointless (and gives massive neck strain), wireless mouse doesn't always work in certain areas of the room. The keyboard works great but I just want something I can point and click on the directories and open the video files with. Something that my girlfriend or a random person stopping by can just pick up and
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Obviously nintendo is pretty mad at them for doing this. Nintendo no longer has a monopoly on the Wii remote...
They haven't [lightinthebox.com] for a while [joystiq.com].
Re:Sombody ain't happy (Score:4, Interesting)
Parent
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Why is it that Asus feels compelled to copy Nintendo's Wii hardware on their latest releases
For the same reason that all mainstream video game consoles after the NES copied the NES's directional pad to some extent rather than using a table-top joystick.
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For the same reason that all mainstream video game consoles after the NES copied the NES's directional pad to some extent rather than using a table-top joystick.
Because they hate children and wanted them all to suffer constant thumb pain?
Nintendo Thumb is a serious and debilitating disorder. Please, won't someone think of the children?
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Please! Don't think of the children like that! Think of the children!