And then there’s MOD: Fun with the Wii Board

Seems like the Wii board just came out, and the Wii Girl video is already at nearly four million hits. (Really?) This wacky new piece of plastic may be the world’s next Power Pad: hackers and game companies are already coming up with exciting new ways to have fun with your equilibrium. Nintendo is the leader in hacker innovation. They come out with a great idea, and people with too much free time come up with even better ideas.

Last year brought us a great Wiimote mod that turns the Wii into a 3D virtual reality experience. And there are online instructions detailing how to make an NES controller into a coffee table or a giant floor mat. Now, a new generation of IT guys are having fun with the timeless art of not falling over. Two guys at the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence, DFKI, have figured out a way to connect the Wii Board to a laptop using a Bluetooth connection. The result? You can navigate WOW or Google Earth, and look funny doing it.

Of course, anything seems important when there’s a German guy doing a voice-over. This would be great for Power Point presentations during a board meeting: a quick hip-thrust will bring up charts for the last fiscal year.

Even other game companies are getting in on the act. A new game is being developed exclusively with the Wii Board in mind, while the makers of Tony Hawk‘s Adrenaline are developing a new “motion sensing board” to be used on other platforms, such as the PS3. This concept is similar to what Antigrav did with the Eye Toy on PS2, allowing a person to use their body to control the on-screen action. This is a much better way of doing it. The Wii Board is essentially a board with four joysticks on the bottom. By standing on it, you simply control these four joysticks by balancing your body. This simple concept has great innovative potential. Nintendo has already been contacted by health and fitness companies interested in entertaining their clients while they sweat.

It’s not a huge jump to imagine the balance board in gym classes all over America. Much more embarrassing than trying to do a pull-up with all your classmates watching, now you could have Mario pop up and tell everyone not only how much you weigh, but your BMI, blood type, and how many dairy products you’ve had within the last hour–just before you fail miserably at the virtual hula hoop competition.

And beyond that, Nintendo as a law-enforcement aid. I see a cop car being equipped with a standard issue Wii “drunk” Board. Instead of touching fingertips to your nose, you have to score at least 200 in the Snowboard game, or it’s off to detox.

Whatever the future definitely holds for the “balance board,” the horizon seems filled with people falling over. I’m buying stock in knee pads.