For my first IR pen I wanted to create something a little different than the usual expo pen. I realized that I wanted the design to get the IR LED up away from my hand a bit to maximize the chance of the Wiimote camera seeing it. My first thought was to do this using a telescoping wand, with a largish handle at the bottom. So I was shopping for telescoping antennas at Frys Electronics and thinking about possible case options. There's a lot of time to think about things while in line at Frys. They surround the checkout line with an amazing array of candy and essential snack foods. Then it happened, my son and I came across a Wii shaped candy dispenser! It was obvious to both of us that we had found the perfect case for our first IR pen project. We had previously purchased a double battery case at Radio Shack when we picked up our IR LED, and sub mini button. It was a great moment when we saw that although the battery case was a tad too long and the walls were also too tall, the width was perfect for a friction fit in the back portion of the case normally used for storing rolls of Smarties candy.  We cut down the case to fit and I think it looks really great. We debated where to put the button. The faux A button was really tempting, but in the end we opted for the more ergonomically placed directional button at the top. For the first version we abandoned the concept of the telescoping antenna. Instead we mounted the IR LED at the top of a pen part. The tip of the pen part was a bit narrow for the wiring so I sawed it off with my jeweler's saw at roughly the same diameter as the IR LED. Here are some pics of the project. Oh, and bonus.. we had candy! I'll also try to get some video of the Wiimote Wiimote in action soon.

Pics 2

I thought of doing that too. The reason we didn't is because the trigger on the candy dispenser is rather stiff so we didn't think we'd get the response time needed for click actions. I purchased a second dispenser for Wiimote Wiimote v.2 and I'll see if the trigger can be loosened up enough to be useful. The next one will have the telescoping wand tip as well.

Finally, video!

Additionally, instead of a new wiimote with a telescoping head, I've made a glove with an IR LED on the tip, with the fingertip on the thumb and middle finger acting as a switch to complete the circuit.

Mason,
Yes, in the air. In the last video the Wimote sits under the display and points at the user rather than at the display. The user wearing the glove calibrates by creating an "imaginary screen" in the air where they will be interacting. This takes some practice but, as Jonathan demonstrated, can be quickly mastered. This allows interaction from across the room in a very relaxed manner. It is also the most responsive setup in our tests because the Wiimote has a really clear view of the IR tip.