Hi all,

I have read a lot about tripod stands, clamps, etc, but after close looking at these boards, it seems there are not many working teachers here who have a mounted LCD projector in a classroom and have developed a permanent way to fix the wii remote by the ceiling.  I have already figured out how to have permanent power going to the remote(SONY)from an outlet in the ceiling, so batteries are not needed and power is not an issue.

Tripods and tables, etc. do not work in a busy classroom with 25 kids.

Can anyone out there make any suggestions for how to hang, or what to bu?. Pictures would be great of what to do for a drop ceiling classroom to stabalize the WII remote.

Thanks.

B

Hi Barry

A group of us (all school principals) have been working on this and other practical problems for a while now. We have a commercial website (3P Interact) which I will post a link to in the For Sale section of the site. We have been testing our products in classrooms over the last six months and will hopefully be able to list an effective ceiling mount in the next two weeks.

If you want to make your own, you need to get a piece of pipe (we use aluminium), attach it to a plate that can be screwed to the ceiling, and use an adjustable mount of some sort to attach the wiimote to the other end. Like you, we have found that in 'real' classrooms the wiimote is best positioned well out of reach!
Dave

Hi Davo,

Thanks for getting back to me.  Glad to hear others are going thru this. 

About the remote mount, I will talk to my technology teachers this week and hopefully come up with something too.  I was thinking, like you, a pole of some sort hanging straight down with a way to attach the remote on the end; after we figur eout how low it should hang and the angle.

So far, have you found putting it up by the ceiling straight on (under the LCD projector) better or worse than off to the right or left (same height as LCD) just some feet away?

Thanks for the communication,

Barry

I am using Neodynium magnets to mount a rod to the ceiling and another magnet to mount the Wiimote to the rod - similar described above...

Hi Barry

We have done a lot of testing about where best to position the wiimote and our results show that about 3m back from the projected image and slightly to the side (approx 1m from centre of image), gives the most reliable results. For right handed people the best offset is to the left and obviously vice versa for lefties although this is not crucial. We have also determined that the optimum projected image size is between 1.2 and 1.5m - anything bigger requires the wiimote to be too far back and will give unreliable performance.

Height from the ceiling is best either in line with the top edge of the projected image or up to 500mm above it. The mounts we are going to supply may be a little large (depending on where in the world you are) to post at a reasonable cost, so we are looking at creating a kit solution that people can add their own 'pole' to and create mounts of any size.

Dave
www.3pinteract.co.nz

i could figure out a way to mount the Wii mote but I do not know how you are going to sync it consistantly...

I have to push the buttons on the wii mote in order for my PC to connect to the Wii mote every day.....

so if it were on the ceiling that would provide for a small problem.  is there a way to make the wii mote connect w/o pushing a button?

Right now...I have the Wii remote attached to my ceiling projector with a rubberband. I used Kleenex to gain the appropriate angle for calibration. My intent is to fashion a wedge (hopefully out of acrylic) and attach it to the projector, then use double-sided velcro to attach the Wii. This will keep a stable angle and position and allow removal for battery replacement....Good Luck!!

how do you all deal with syncing it to the PC every day?

it's mounted upside down...so i just push the buttons in the morning and keep it sync'ed all day.

I'm a student at Gaithersburg High School in Maryland. How could i recommend this idea to the school or Montgomery County Public School system? It would be great and would save alot of money replacing those ridiculous smart boards. I've already turned my pc into one. It's really interesting, the possibilities with this technology.

hi I think you can mount a telescoping rod off of the wall with the wiiremote mounted at the end. this is what i am going to try anyway.

Hey Y'all,
I found a product at Home Depot that I'm sure is also available at Lowes and other stores of that ilk.  It's a clip specifically designed to hang stuff from the T-bar that holds the panels of so many classroom ceilings.  Many schools are built with drop ceilings, meaning that the ceiling in the classroom has space above it, just above the lightweight panel, filled with pipes, wires and whatnot.  The metal bars that hold those lightweight panels are what I'm attaching my wiimote to.
I have the clip meant for these T-bars which has a screw coming out the bottom that I put through a PVC T connector that I drilled a hole in.  That screwed on using a locking nut I stick a piece of PVC pipe into the T connector and another T connector at the bottom which is about 7 feet from the ground.  From this lower T connector I insert a 4 inch length of PVC pipe onto which I used electrical tape to attach a strong rectangular magnet (super glue did NOT hold it).  I also taped a matching magnet to the back of the Wiimote and snap it onto the PVC's magnet.  Since I did not cement the PVC at the bottom I'm able to rotate the 4 inch length until the Wiimote is pointed correctly at the whitebaord for the best resolution.
With the magnets holding the Wiimote 7 feet off the ground it's easy to put the Wiimote away when not in use, easy to sync with the bluetooth, easy to change batteries, yet is high enough to not be in the way while in use.  I'm quite happy with this result.  Once I've adjusted the 4 inch PVC to the correct position I don't really need to move it and can just pop the Wiimote on and go.
The whole set up weighs less than a pound, costs about three dollars and works great.  If anyone wants more details I can post pictures and list brands, prices, etc.
Thanks to everyone for posting their thoughts and solutions, I've used many of them.
Bill
Tigard, Oregon, USA

I'D LOVE TO SEE A PICTURE OF THIS