Wii Fanboy Interview: Johnny Lee

by Alisha Karabinus { Apr 30th 2008 at 10:30AM }

In 2005, when the then-Revolution was unveiled, the hearts of Nintendo fans everywhere swelled with hope, but it took a Ph.D. candidate at Carnegie Mellon to begin to actually fulfill some of the crazier dreams the console first inspired. Johnny Lee's Wii remote projects have widened our perceptions of what's possible with the technology sitting in our living rooms, and even broadened our ideas of what gaming could -- and maybe should -- be. Lee is a magician, and we're not the only ones who think so; he recently blew the lids off smarter brains than ours at the TED conference with his cost-effective Wiimote whiteboard and head tracking demos.

But if you ask him, Lee insists he's just this guy, you know? And we did ask; in fact, we recently sat down for a talk with the Wiimote genius, and he dished up some pretty interesting tidbits on everything from the future of head tracking to his own recent job search. Before you ask, no, he's not going to Nintendo, but he may be headed back to YouTube soon for a few more project videos.

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Tags: head-tracking, johnny-lee, joystiqfeatures, ted-conference, whiteboard

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

TheWarlock @ Apr 30th 2008 10:41AM

Wow, this is pure genius. He is pure genius. It was like watching Einstein when he first unravelled the theory of relativity... or you know, when Rocky beat Drago.

David Hinkle @ Apr 30th 2008 10:54AM

He's not human. He's like a piece of iron.

Josh @ Apr 30th 2008 11:57AM

Re: Einstein
No, no it's not.

TheWarlock @ Apr 30th 2008 5:03PM

Bleh, brilliance is never understood in it's own time.

Josh @ May 1st 2008 12:59AM

"Bleh, brilliance is never understood in it's own time."

Another false observation. Nice and knee jerky tho - just like the first one.

I'll try not to spoil the moment next time.

Josh @ May 1st 2008 2:02AM

Sorry to be so harsh. There really is no need for me to be like that.

TheWarlock @ May 1st 2008 10:38PM

I accept your apology, on one condition... YOU GRANT ME PERMISSION TO EAT YOUR SOUL.

Timerider @ Apr 30th 2008 11:05AM

I'd love to see stuff like this more accessible. It's awesome.

DSRPG2 @ Apr 30th 2008 11:08AM

Shame on you, Nintendo, for being too proud or stubborn to hire on one of the most pioneering minds of the video game industry in the 21st century.

Dio @ Apr 30th 2008 11:13AM

I hope better rhythm games come out.

SoshiKitai @ Apr 30th 2008 11:24AM

:) Ahhh~
When I first got the Wii and tried it out... I saw all these incredible possibilities with it. I may not have known how to make it, but I mapped out everything it COULD do.
I drew and wrote on papers, typed in my little journals, and all sorts of things that could happen from the Wii.

And when I became even more excited, I looked up all these new controllers, holograms, sensory-systems, and etc up on books, colleges, and on the internet!

I was so excited! The future of gaming was gonna' change and the Wii was there to start it! It wasn't just about gaming anymore!
Can you believe it?! We have WORKING INTERACTIVE HOLOGRAMS now! That's the future we dreamed of, and we already have it! We already have ROBOT "societies" now! Mind control games! Texture-changing controls! Completely computer controlled houses!

They're even working on advanced bio-technological computers! The internet on paper! A GPA-ing, Credit Card-ing, Phone-ing, Personal Computer-ing, Music Playing Watches! Emotion-reacting robots! And what the heck, they already have an almost-working infinite energy!

And think of the things they haven't touched yet!
Like liquid metals that can change into hardened specific shapes and forms when struck with magnetism! ( Advanced Rumble Robots, anyone? )

But we can't afford to make any of those mainstream!
But if we could!

No wait! We CAN! We just need more people like Johnny Lee working in the front lines! By making simple ideas do incredible things, we can create even simpler forms of the specific ideas of the future! And as such, future tech and resources grow higher demand!

Ah~~ So refreshing that there's people like Johnny out there. :)

TheWarlock @ Apr 30th 2008 6:20PM

Soshi, is there like a form or something that I can fill out to get those 2 minutes of my life back [reading your insanely long comment]?

Alisha Karabinus @ Apr 30th 2008 6:33PM

You know, you spent another one typing that comment, so I'm guessing you didn't really need those minutes in the first place. ;)

Orion @ Apr 30th 2008 12:19PM

Bottom line, he just seems like a nice guy, and I hope he finds success (if he doesn't I'd be shocked).

I can sort of understand why nintendo didnt contact him. In a way, they might have taken an idea they had already thought of and were going to implement on the next system and were if anything, maybe a bit let down someone else did it. I donno, either way, if he doesn't even want to work there it all worked out for the best. I'd rather his dream company went to him to give him a job instead than him just settling.

I liked how he gave us a small glimpse into the future with wii game production. It sounds like developers are just starting to finally *get* the controls, and hopefully can implement them even better in the next wave of titles this winter and next year.

Thanks for the interview, was a nice read, Wiifanboy.

Mario fan @ Apr 30th 2008 1:07PM

this guy seems pretty cool especially making stuff from his home and making episodes on youtube and I think he should go to Nintendo.

racecar @ Apr 30th 2008 1:14PM

Great interview Alisha! Johnny Lee is one of the great minds on the Wii developing scene, and it's funny to think that it isn't even his main interest. Lots of great info and great questions. It's good to see NWFB churning stuff like this out.

Also, as an aside, I'm like the "Add a comment" link as you go further into the interview.

-racecar
http://everybodyvotes.blogspot.com

videoanime @ Apr 30th 2008 2:44PM

A smart person, no doubt, I hope that works on something that likes him, videogaming industry is not at his interest at all.

Congrats Lee for the graduation.

Majkiboy @ May 1st 2008 9:19AM

Reaserch is the shit!

Ridgecity @ Apr 30th 2008 4:50PM

I think it's better he's not working with Nintendo. At least for him. As he said, they like to control too much their people (which is good, but might be bad for overactive minds) and this guy needs to work in a place without any limits.

Alisha Karabinus @ Apr 30th 2008 6:03PM

Glad everyone's liked the interview so far! He was really great to talk to.

Unfortunately, it sounds as though there will be restrictions wherever he goes, since he was saying he may not be able to release too many videos after he starts working, but it's still good to know that his stuff is out there and that we should see more before he's sucked away into the working world.