Showing an example of how developers can do some really cool stuff with the Google Earth API, Google Earth iPhone Engineer David Phillip Oster has created a program that allows people to “surf” any region on the Earth’s surface using the balance board for the Nintendo Wii.
Oster used the Google Earth Browser plug-in and a javascript API, and the board transmits the person’s movements to the application using Bluetooth. See it in action:
“While it’s fun to use Earth Surfer, I really wrote it to inspire others to write their own programs,” explains Oster. “It’s all open source using the Apache License, so you can use the code in your own programs, even commercial ones.”
This certainly provides some hope for bored Wii owners who lament a lack of new entertaining titles to play. If they know how to develop applications or know someone who does, they might be able to get some more entertainment value out of a console that is otherwise collecting dust (I know many people still enjoy the Wii immensely, but I also know some people that are a little disappointed after a year or so).
Oster notes that “Earth Surfer” and it’s source code will be available via the Google Mac Developer Playground starting next week. The program was created for Macworld.
