Pocket Flash

I’ve been playing around with WiiFlash and Papervision 3D for a little while, partly because they’re the coolest projects I’ve seen in quite a while, and partly as I may be able to squeeze both of them simultaneously into a very interesting project.

Papervision 3D now has a couple of components for Flash CS3 which make life a little easier, the API is written beautifully enough to be able to render things like this controllable X-wing with just a few lines of code. The integration of the WiiFlash API with Papervision 3D is a match made in heaven. The access to more obvious properties and methods like pitch, roll and rotation allows you to get a 3D object onto your screen in no time, but it’s the depth of the engine behind it all that really interests me. The more I play with the two technologies the more I want to see how far I can push them together and develop something truly interactive.

It’s no secret that I love multi-touch technology, it’s one of the few things I like about the iPhone. After playing with WiiFlash and Papervision 3D for a little while, it dawned on me that I could create a variant of a multi-touch system using multiple wiimotes. I could include gestural movements to perform commands similar to those in Microsofts’ Surface but have the ability to create 3D interactive environments that map your every movement rather than just tapping on a flat 2D (so to speak) screen.

I’ve been asked by the BBC to create a slideshow application for their 14 foot ‘Big Screens’, which is where my thoughts where when I came up with some of these ideas. Multi-touch is great, but it’s limited by size and by your own reach. How great would it be to stand in front of a 14 x 9 foot screen waving two wiimotes around, controlling all manner of interactive applications. Hopefully I’ll be able to let you know one day, for now here’s my first attempt at controlling a 3D X-wiing spining around at the flick of a wrist.