So my friend and I don't have a Wii and aren't interested in buying an entire Wii just to use the Wiimote.  Our problem lies in the fact that in order to implement the Wiimote, one first has to power up the Wii console itself.  With that in mind, does anyone know how to power a Wiimote w/o a Wii?

The wii itself is not needed. You can simply go buy a replacement wiimote and use that.

You will need to get it connected to your pc using bluetooth. following the link above will get you on your way to getting it connected.

Second. in order to get the wiimote working on your machine with the demos you will need some IR leds. The head tracking example needs 2 leds positioned somewhere on your head in view of the wiimote. The glasses that have leds in them can be used after swapping out the leds for some IR leds. If you don't have that you could use some headsets (for listening to music) and wire up some leds and attach one to each side of the headset. You will need to measure the distance between the leds so you can modify the config.dat file.

Third. You will need to assemble a IR led pen for use with the whiteboard if you choose to run that example.

All this can be done without an actual wii console system.

Thanks
John

You only need to power up the wii to power up the led bar that comes with the wii, Assuming you have a wii and are using it for the demo. However if you go buy a wiimote by itself you will need to make a "led bar" or some variant of that and power the leds.

The led bar that comes with the Wii is just 2 IR leds, nothing more.

Hope that helps

John

Thanks for the great guide; I'm sure we'll be using it when we get to that point.  We're still on the building phase though which goes slowly with school and all.