Wii Sensor Bar

Really quick one here at the beginning of 2025. I have a simple problem - I have a Wii, and I use a projector in my living room. The projector requires all my AV stuff to be at the back of the room (or use crazy long cables, etc). For audio, I have a nice bluetooth speaker at the front - this kicks ass. But with the Wii, the sensor bar cable is not long enough.

So turns out that the Wii “Sensor Bar” is just two groups of IR LEDs that are then sensed by the remote - there are no active electronics. Here I used my Intel Realsense (which has two IR imagers) to take a look through the filters on the Wii device. There are 5 small bulbs inside, with the outer two pointed at 45 degrees outward.

This also means theres no need to link the bar to the Wii. This is so simple that people even commonly use two candles as a makeshift device. You can also, more elegantly, use some IR LEDs.

Thanks to nefarious circumstances, some of my friends got me a set of the right diodes for the job for my birthday!

Build

• 950nm Infrared LED x4
• 47Ω Resistor x2
• USB C connector (to taste)

I used the new FreeCAD version 1.0.0 (seriously, if you are a post-college engineer, check this new release out - they fixed my major problem with it) to quickly model a little case for the four bulbs. Throw a USB-C port on there, some resistors, and slop some hot glue all over it and were done!

Its not as bright as the Wii one, but it works just fine.

Funny, I found out my string lights also are visible when on the highest sensitivity setting for the Wiimotes.

Anyway, this was a good quick project to do at the start of the year.