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WPF Wii Binding Properties: Infrared Data

This is an extension of my previous post, WPF Wiimote Library (Now With Project Files!), which has links to the WPF Wiimote Binding Library project files as well as some information vital to getting you started in connecting your application to the Wiimote.

And now for the IR properties:

The Wiimote can track up to 4 infrared (IR) LEDs at a time. If I were a programmer, I would have created an IR LED enum with the following properties as part of each IR LED. But since I’m not, these properties can be accessed with the following convention: IR[#][propertyName]. Each IR LED has the following properties:

IR[#]RawPosition

Type: Point

Summary: The IR camera has a X,Y resolution of 1024, 768. This property will give you the raw X,Y position that the Wiimote is tracking this LED at.

Binding Usage Example:

<Grid Canvas.Left=”{Binding Source={StaticResource WiiData}, Path=”IR1RawPosition.X, Mode=OneWay}
Canvas.Top=”{Binding Source={StaticResource WiiData}, Path=”IR1RawPosition.Y, Mode=OneWay}/>

Additional Info: This will work best if your Canvas is the exact dimensions of the Wiimote camera (1024, 768). These properties are automatically converted to take into account the IsMultiPoint setting (described in the Miscellaneous Properties (coming soon)).

IR[#]Position

Type: Point

Summary: This is the X,Y ratio of the position of your IR LED. The best way to use this is in a multi-binding with the width and height of your target Canvas. Fortunately for you, I’ve added a converter that will help with this. Simply add the following code in your resources:

<Wii:VariableCanvasPointConverter x:Key=”VariableCanvasConverter/>

And follow the binding example below.

Binding Usage Example:

<Grid>
   <Canvas.Left>
      <MultiBinding Converter=”{StaticResource VariableCanvasConverter}>
         <Binding Source=”{StaticResource WiiData}Path=”IR1Position.XMode=”OneWay/>
         <Binding ElementName=”MyCanvasPath=”ActualWidthMode=”Default/>
      </MultiBinding>
   </Canvas.Left>
   <Canvas.Top>
      <MultiBinding Converter=”{StaticResource VariableCanvasConverter}>
         <Binding Source=”{StaticResource WiiData}Path=”IR1Position.YMode=”OneWay/>
         <Binding ElementName=”MyCanvasPath=”ActualHeightMode=”Default/>
      </MultiBinding>
   </Canvas.Top>
</Grid>

Additional Info: These properties are automatically converted to take into account the IsMultiPoint setting (described in the Miscellaneous Properties (coming soon)).

IR[#]Found

Type: boolean

Summary: This is a property that is “true” if the Wiimote can see the target LED and “false” if it cannot.

Binding Usage Example:

<Grid IsEnabled=”{Binding Source={StaticResource WiiData}, Path=IR2Found, Mode=OneWay}/>

Additional Info:  This property is also available for the midpoint between the first and second infrared light (MidPointFound) and for the target point (TargetFound) which displays a calculated position of where the Wiimote is being pointed.

IR[#]Size

Type: double

Summary: The Wiimote naturally picks up the size of the LED it is tracking. To get larger sizes  (which translates into better reliability) use a small cluster of LEDs (three should do the trick) rather than a single one.

Binding Usage Example:

<Grid Width=”{Binding Source={StaticResource WiiData}, Path=IR1Size, Mode=OneWay}/>

IsIR[#]Visible

Type: bool

Summary: This item is meant for two way binding. If you want a way to programmatically choose whether or not to show the item that is bound to your IR interface, use this property. It is most useful when used in conjunction with the BoolToVisibility Converter, which can be used by placing this XAML in your resources:

<BooleanToVisibilityConverter x:Key=”boolToVis/>

Binding Usage Example:

<Grid Visibility=”{Binding Source={StaticResource WiiData}, Path=IsIR3Visible, Mode=OneWay, Converter={StaticResource boolToVis}/>

<CheckBox IsChecked=”{Binding Source={StaticResource WiiData}, Path=IsIR3Visible, Mode=TwoWay}/>

Additional Info:  This is a great property to attach to a checkbox (as seen above) to allow user control over which items are to be shown.

In addition to the infrared lights, the WPF Wii library is set up to display two calculated points as well:

  • A midpoint between IR1 and IR2
  • A target point (based on the midpoint) which indicates where the Wiimote is being pointed.

These two calculated points still have the position properties listed above (TargetRawPosition, MidPoint RawPosition, TargetPosition, MidPointPosition) as well as the visibility booleans (IsTargetVisible and IsMidPointVisible) and the “found” boolean properties (MidPointFound and IsTargetPossible).

Of course, you can also play around with the items in Intellisense is also a great way to discover all the available properties.