Connecting Nintendo Wii Balance Board to laptop

[Coralie Rochefort]

We have used the Nintendo Wii Balance Board (WBB) as an alternative to a force plate to collect center of pressure data. However, we've only been able to successfully connect the WBB via a Bluetooth device to a laptop running on Windows XP. We are able to connect the WBB to a laptop running on another operating system such as Windows 7 or 8, but the WBB disconnects within minutes. When the WBB is connected to a laptop running on Windows XP, the WBB remains connected until the connection is manually terminated. Does anyone have experience using the WBB to collect center of pressure data? Are you able to connect the WBB to a computer running on an operating system other than Windows XP?

Coralie

[Julie Ellis]

Re: Connecting Nintendo Wii Balance Board to laptop

I have experimented a bit with this myself. The Bluetooth stack that Windows uses is not great for this but Windows 10 has an updated stack that seems to work well. I have also had luck using BlueSoleil to connect with the Wii - www.bluesoleil.com. It is a Bluetooth stack/application that you can use to connect devices to your computer. Hope this helps!
Julie