5:55 AM
The Game Peddler
00:01 11 February 2011
Wendy Zukerman, Asia-Pacific reporter
(Image: Ray Tang/Rex Features)
We already knew it can be used to train surgeons, assist the military, and rehabilitate stroke sufferers.
Now researchers have discovered that the Nintendo Wii can calculate running speed with impressive accuracy.
Ross Clark at the University of Melbourne, Australia uses a bastardised Wii Remote hand controller to measure the speed of professional rugby players.
He found that it's more accurate than conventional stop watches, easy to travel with, and much cheaper than the commercial timing light systems, which can run up to $250,000. Wii hand controllers have a small infrared camera that detects multiple light sources and transfers their position via Bluetooth onto a Nintendo Wii console, or computer.
Clark placed two infrared LED light sources at the beginning and end of a running track, and pointed a Wii hand controller at the lights. Once someone runs past the light source it "breaks the beam" - which is detected by the controller.
Calculating the time taken to break the first and then second beam reveals sprinter's speed, says Clark. The whole system can fit into a travel bag, and costs under US $100. The research appeared in the Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport.
Clark timed himself running two metres using the Wii device and the gold standard timer, a 3D kinematic system, which detects movement by shooting out visible red light that bounces off reflective markers and back to a sensor on the machine. To activate the system, Clark ran with reflective markers on his shirt. Three exercise scientists also timed Clark using conventional stop watches. The test was repeated 18 times at different moving speeds.
The Wii hand controller held it's own. Assuming the 3D kinematic system has the 'perfect' time, Clark calculated the Wii's accuracy by averaging the difference between the recorded times of the Wii, 3D kinematic system and stop watches. The 3D kinematic system has a zero percent error margin (because it has the same score compared it to itself), the Wii had a 2.95 percent error margin, while the averaged stop watches had a 6.61 percent error.
Clark says the machine is "definitely not" Olympic ready. The Olympic Games use photo finish cameras that track time down to thousands of a second, something Clark simply hasn't tested
(Image: Ray Tang/Rex Features)We already knew it can be used to train surgeons, assist the military, and rehabilitate stroke sufferers.
Now researchers have discovered that the Nintendo Wii can calculate running speed with impressive accuracy.
Ross Clark at the University of Melbourne, Australia uses a bastardised Wii Remote hand controller to measure the speed of professional rugby players.
He found that it's more accurate than conventional stop watches, easy to travel with, and much cheaper than the commercial timing light systems, which can run up to $250,000. Wii hand controllers have a small infrared camera that detects multiple light sources and transfers their position via Bluetooth onto a Nintendo Wii console, or computer.
Clark placed two infrared LED light sources at the beginning and end of a running track, and pointed a Wii hand controller at the lights. Once someone runs past the light source it "breaks the beam" - which is detected by the controller.
Calculating the time taken to break the first and then second beam reveals sprinter's speed, says Clark. The whole system can fit into a travel bag, and costs under US $100. The research appeared in the Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport.
Clark timed himself running two metres using the Wii device and the gold standard timer, a 3D kinematic system, which detects movement by shooting out visible red light that bounces off reflective markers and back to a sensor on the machine. To activate the system, Clark ran with reflective markers on his shirt. Three exercise scientists also timed Clark using conventional stop watches. The test was repeated 18 times at different moving speeds.
The Wii hand controller held it's own. Assuming the 3D kinematic system has the 'perfect' time, Clark calculated the Wii's accuracy by averaging the difference between the recorded times of the Wii, 3D kinematic system and stop watches. The 3D kinematic system has a zero percent error margin (because it has the same score compared it to itself), the Wii had a 2.95 percent error margin, while the averaged stop watches had a 6.61 percent error.
Clark says the machine is "definitely not" Olympic ready. The Olympic Games use photo finish cameras that track time down to thousands of a second, something Clark simply hasn't tested
Posts
