Is it a secret Wii U feature or just a Wii idea that didn't pan out?
http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/news/29414
Nintendo is considering an environment sensor unit that could interface with the Wii, a recent patent application reveals.
The filing reveals a number of possible applications. The sensor data can be used to predict the weather, estimate the time of year, and detect which room in which the device is located. The sensor readings can also be used to alter in-game content.
The unit includes an atmospheric pressure sensor, a temperature sensor, and a humidity sensor, as well as a dedicated microcomputer and memory. The latter components allow the unit to run the sensors at periodic intervals, while otherwise remaining in sleep mode so that data can continue to be collected and transferred later. The sensor reading history can be plotted on-screen. This information can be shared with others, and graphs comparing different locations can be shown.
Atmospheric pressure sensor data can be used to predict weather (a decrease in pressure is associated with rain). This data can also be sent to a server, where, once corrected for elevation based on the location of the system, it can be used to generate a large-scale map of atmospheric pressure known as an isobar chart.
The temperature and humidity sensors can detect patterns over time, which can infer whether the room is occupied (an example is given where an office runs the air conditioner during the day on weekdays). This information can be send to other users to tell them if a person may be present. Over a longer period of time, this sensor data can be used to infer the time of year. From this information, in-game environments can be changed to match the real-life season or weather.
A number of possible applications are mentioned. The system can correlate sensor readings with various historical data to generate indices such as beer index, an influenza epidemic index, a comfort or discomfort index, and a laundry index. Additionally, the system can generate recommendations, such as what clothes should be worn that day.
Furthermore, the unit can be equipped with a radio or an infrared communication system, which would allow it to control other devices, such as an air conditioner. The application also notes that the Wii Sensor Bar's infrared lights could be used for such communication.
The patent application also explores the combination of other sensors, including a smell sensor, dust sensor, human sensor, camera, illuminance sensor, and an ultraviolet sensor. The latter sensors can be used to infer sunlight information.
Nintendo originally filed for the US patent on August 12, 2011, following the Japanese filing on August 20, 2010. The inventors are listed as Yasuyuki Shimohata, Ryoji Kuroda, Kazuhiro Hosoi, and Takanori Okamura. While it is not clear how Nintendo plans to use the technology, they note that it could be applied to fixed console systems, PCs, phones, PDAs, and hand-held game systems. Some recent cell phones include such sensors.
the unit can be equipped with a radio or an infrared communication system, which would allow it to control other devices, such as an air conditioner. The application also notes that the Wii Sensor Bar's infrared lights could be used for such communication.Hey, it's raining! Turn on Da Wii!
A number of possible applications are mentioned. The system can correlate sensor readings with various historical data to generate indices such as beer index, an influenza epidemic index, a comfort or discomfort index, and a laundry index. Additionally, the system can generate recommendations, such as what clothes should be worn that day.
part of the weatherunderground? wunderground.comThough this seems intended for indoor use, this is what I first thought of. Presumably, Nintendo would be able to make it cheaper and get it more wide-spread.
You know the actor that everyone loves and everyone wants to hear him talk about his most famous roles and yet he can't shut-up about his stupid band that nobody gives a **** about? Or the musician who talks endlessly about his clothing line? Sometimes Nintendo is like this. They're the best videogame designer in the world and yet it often seems that what they really want to talk about is their weather station or weird video network or vitality sensor or software to learn English or whatever goofy ass gadget they've come up with to get grandparents playing videogames. "Well I guess there is that videogame stuff but what I'm REALLY excited about is our new digital cook book!" ARRGH!!They filed a patent. That's all...
I can imagine this introducing realtime weather effects in games which sounds awesome for about three seconds until you realize that when it's a miserable rainy day outside you probably are playing videogames because you can't do anything else. Do you really want the game to be raining as well? "I will escape the bad weather by... playing a videogame where I'm stuck in bad weather."
Doesn't the Wii already have a channel that tells you the weather? I guess this would be a good thing for those who don't have their Wiis online enabled, though.
multiple points of dataThe application goes into great detail about using this.
Doesn't the Wii already have a channel that tells you the weather? I guess this would be a good thing for those who don't have their Wiis online enabled, though.
From my experience, the Wii's Weather Channel is pretty terrible, usually anywhere from a half hour to 2-3 hours out-of-date.
Nintendo is still a toy company in some ways. It's not necessarily about trying to expand their audience with grandparents specifically, they just like experimenting with new ways of interacting with technology, which is a very good thing.
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Yet, this type of stuff is exactly what keeps Nintendo going despite what the outside world wants them to do.