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Wii fans — brace yourselves as your beloved Wiimote goes mainstream. Or maybe not…

Philips is set to unveil the uWand, a TV (and PC) remote looks a little (and works a lot) like your Wii Remote’s cousin.

According to Rapid TV News editorial director Chris Forrester, Philips will demonstrate its uWand remote control for both TV and PC platforms for the first time at IBC2009 in mid-September. Philips began working on the concepts and technology behind uWand in 1999 and formally announced its development in 2006.

uWand is a remote control shaped handheld direct pointer, that also delivers 3D capabilities, with the same intuitiveness as a multi-touch screen. A special camera embedded in the uWand allows users directly interact with TV or PC by pointing, clicking and making fluid 3D gestures (part computer mouse, part Wii Remote, part couch potato).

This reminds us a little PrimeSense technology (noted in an earlier post) whose 3D sensing system allows you to control your TV through physical gestures. uWand isn’t nearly as creepy as the Prime Sensor because it’s doesn’t “watch” the people controlling it; it “watches” the device it’s controlling.

While the demonstration at IBC will be limited to TV and PC applications, Philips claims that the uWand could control almost anything, including set-top boxes, media players, game consoles, lighting systems, digital photo frames, et cetera.

Reportedly, Philips already has commercial deals in place with device manufacturers and technology providers. Like most of the new control systems we see, its developers claim that there are applications in fields like medicine and education. The real issue as we see it is lack of compatibility with all the devices you already own. Will the uWand pan out? We’ll be watching…

Video: EETimes