swiitboard
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Homemade Balance Board -- with more board
Sure, the Wii Balance Board is great, but you can't stomp on it. Also, it doesn't look nearly enough like a big piece of plywood. That's where the "Swiitboard" comes in. This "homebrewed" Balance Board alternative couldn't be simpler: it's a board, on some foam, with a Wiimote cable-tied to it. But the real draw of this project, besides the availability of its parts in stores, is that you can actually run on the thing. Creator "frits" developed this for higher-impact exercise than the Wiimote allows, along with some custom software that tracks the motions of the tied-on Wiimote.See also: Wii Fanboy Interview: Johnny Lee, Revolutionary: Balance Boarder%Gallery-23865%[Via Engadget]
SwiitBoard: the sweeter way to get fit on the Wii
The Wii Fit's slab of a peripheral is called a Balance Board for good reason: it's fine if a little yoga and pilates action is all you need to keep in shape, but, sturdy as it is, jumping up and down is liable to form cracks before toned thighs. If you need some high impact aerobics to be rid of that spare tire you'll have to go custom, like the SwiitBoard from a cardio-loving Wii aficionado called frits. It's just a durable wooden plank propped up by foam blocks on either end and a Wiimote zip tied to the front. The magic happens in the software, converting the up/down impacts of jogging in place into forward motion, with left or right roll turning the avatar in the simple game he worked out (video below). It's perhaps a bit crude, but would you rather have a board that looks good or a bod that looks good? Yeah, we'd pick gadget aesthetics too. If you want your own, frits will sell you the software for €10 -- money that will fund another of his projects: a site that fights global warming via pictures of scantily clad, eco-minded ladies.[Via Hack A Day]
