Introduction
When I learned that the Wiimote can be used to control pretty much anything with a Bluetooth connection, I was stunned. With some support, I was able to convert the Wiimote into a device manipulator with an extremely low budget.
Getting a Wii
If you don't have a Wii console, that is ok, because a Wii console and all the associated peripherals are not required to hack your wii. All you need is a Wiimote, the nifty little controller which can now be purchased at pretty much anywhere. Try Gamestop, Target, Bestbuy, etc. You will probably end up spending $40 in all to buy a Wiimote. If you already have a Wiimote, you are all set.
Bluetooth
This is the scariest part. Do you have a bluetooth connection on your computer? If no, you do not need to go out and buy a new computer or some fancy laptop. Instead of spending a lot of money, you can buy a USB Bluetooth Adapter. They are available at Fry's Electronics here, Best Buy here, and pretty much any other electronic store you go to. If you want to check online, go to the online catalog of any store and type in "usb bluetooth" or something like that to get the results. You may even want to buy a couple of these Bluetooth Adapters, they come in handy when you want to send files between two computers without any software (just drag-and-drop).
Your Computer
Your computer needs a way to process all the information the bluetooth reciever is getting and do something with it. Usually, this is the part where the amateur computer users are dropped off from the pros. Unfortunately, you do NOT need to know any programming language to get your Wiimote connected. All you need is the GlovePIE software, in the downloads section (in the sidebar) or follow this link here.
Conclusion
Amazingly, this process should take you about 30 minutes. To work the GlovePIE software, you can either read further or look at the enormous amount of reference scripts available within the downloaded folder.
GlovePIE is property of Carl Kenner. If you find that GlovePIE is, in any way, malicious or destructive to your computer, please delete it immediately and report it to keshav.saharia@gmail.com so it can be removed from this site.
There are many things that you can use the Wii remote to control. Especially innovative is the controlling of Lego Mindstorms NXT sets, which are talked about more in Innovations.