A hacked Nintendo Wii Balance Board (from the game Wii Fit) used to control Google Earth.

Using the Google Earth application programming interface (API), a Google engineer was able to get the Balance Board to talk to the program after decoding the Bluetooth packets being sent from the board (that�s how the device wirelessly interacts with a machine like the Nintendo Wii). The result (which you can see in the video below) allows users to move forward by leaning forward, move backwards by leaning back, etc.

The developer says he made this neat little demo to inspire others to code their own programs using these open source methods. Hopefully, someone comes up with a hack to make it so I can use my Wiimote to control my Apple TV, so I can stop using that damn directional pad.

Share This Post

Leave a Reply