Opera Software, developer behind the Wii Internet Channel, have published the application programming interface (API) for the Wii remote. This allows web programmers to design pages using JavaScript that can retrieve data from the Wii remote enabling users to interact with web pages in new ways.

The interface can get information about all four remotes in real time including rotation, distance from the screen, button presses, and pointer position. The interface relies solely on the pointer feature for tilt information and does not read data from the accelerometers. The API also works with the Nunchuk attachment but does not include Classic Controller support.

Opera notes that this API could be used to program simple games using a combination of technologies supported in the browser. They also include a simple game, which uses the tilt sensing of the remote. It will be interesting to see the games and applications that independent developers make using this API.