Now you're playing with fire

The Nintendo Wii's controller is a marvel. It has accelerometers that measure movement in three dimensions, a rotation sensor, a tiny embedded speaker and a sensor to determine which direction it's pointed in. This last feature requires a sensor bar to be placed above or below one's TV. Unlike the sonic-based sensor bar used with the Power Glove or the Samba de Amigo maracas, the Wii's sensor bar doesn't actually "sense" anything. It's a pair of infrared emitters from which the Wii remote is able to determine the direction it is pointing. There's nothing special about this light, any source of infrared light would work. A pair of candles, for example.

I think it's awesome that a modern game system can be run with a technology five thousand years old.