Computer scientist mods Xbox 360 to detect heart attacks, girls still mysteriously elusive
By Laura June 
posted September 26th 2009 3:04PM
posted September 26th 2009 3:04PM
We've seen so many mods around here that sometimes it's truly hard to get excited over the minor stuff. Well, this doesn't fall into that category in any way. A computer scientist at the University in Warwick has developed a method to use Microsoft's Xbox 360 to detect heart defects and help prevent heart attacks. Based on a demo created by Simon Scarle a few years back when he worked at Rare studio, it's based on a modded chip that -- instead of producing graphics for the game -- now produces data tracking how the electrical signals in the heart moves about damaged cells, creating a model of it. The model can then be used to help doctors to identify defects and disturbances in the heart's beating. This significantly decreases the costs and complications of creating a model of the heart, which is currently done by supercomputers and is very expensive. Scarle's project and findings were just published in the August issue of the Journal of Computational Biology and Chemistry. Looks like we'll all have a response the next time someone tells us that gaming is good for nothing, right?
If it's modded then doesn't that mean they'll be banned from XBL?
There goes their gaming post-op...
i saw this on CNN this morning. they kept talking about a chip in the xbox 360 that is able to do this and i was WTF the whole time. turns out its a mod chip...
Doesn't this violate the EULA? Micorsoft should file a lawsuit against this clown.
Hmm, I LOVE the title especially the "girls still mysteriously elusive" part, but whose worse? The geek who made this mod, or the geeks writing about it and parading it as "news"?
@Sarcasticone
lmao
@Sarcasticone Hey! I'm no geek! JK. Totally am.
How to recognize a geek:
a)He/She self clasified as a non-geek.
b)He/She talk about xbox360, ps3 and/or wii, of course owns one or many consoles even if doesn't have enough time to play games.
:3
@Magallanes, I'm definitely a geek and admit to it, no longer make time for gaming, and own no consoles... none at all. Three strikes!
@Sarcasticone
Who's worse is the person who writes "whose" instead of "who's". That would be you.
No, wait, it's the grammar nazi who's worse. That would be me.
Red Heart of Death?
LOL Epic
Heart stops when Red Ring of Death lights up on XBox.
Red Ring of DEATH, came to my mind. Is a x360 really the safest choice when it comes to reliability?
Is ANY Microsoft product a safe choice for reliability?
Is ANY electronic a safe choice for reliability?
Why did they need an XBOX 360 to do this? I mean its cool, but it seems like this could be done with other hardware easier.
**couth**fatp3slinux*cough**
Excuse my bad spel- I mean coughing.
Considering how much is locked out from Linux on the PS3, that's probably the worst choice available.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation_3_cluster
Ok, it doesn't necessarily have to be linux though.
Well because if it were to become something that is actually used for this purpose then the 360 is a standardised piece of hardware that can be easily and cheaply bought, and the software only needs to be written and bug squashed to cater for that hardware.
This is a good idea but I wonder what MS has to say about it, even if it does have a benevolent motive
Just don't try to update the dashboard...
Will it prevent the heart attacks people get when they turn on their 360's and see 3 red lights?
*Xbox owner and lover*
Nope, people are use to that now, it just monitor your heart rate when you get one.
I wtf'd.
Isn't the PS3 being used for cancer research or something like that as well? These stories don't surprise me anymore, as the consoles become more and more like little "computers" as far as hardware capabilities, I'm not surprised that medical application is far off. Cheers to thinking outside the box, so to speak :)
Seriously, how will the 360 detect the heart attack of an XBot that just witnessed RROD?
Oooooh, XBot. You are so creative. I hope some day I can think up those zingers all on my own like you can.
Just after the news cameras left, the FBI, SHIELD, and a finger-wagging Steve Ballmer run in and arrest the guy- then start water-boarding him for breaking the DMCA and/or EULA.
THIS is why modding should always be legal: INNOVATION, folks.
they should figure out a way to make the xbox detect an upcoming failure of itself.
Is there any reason he couldn't have used an fpga to do the same thing, at a much lower cost?
Here's how the experiment should work.
Hook up the gamer
play game
add half naked super model to flirt with gamer
HEART ATTACK
Well, science has been done
On the people who are still alive?
now your parents cannot say no to not buy you one because you can say it can save their life one day.
Looks like Microsoft will want to raise the prices again if they find out their hardware can do MORE than what they expected.
lol
wow somany problems with this were to start?
lets see xbox is it really appropiate? go with ps3 its got bettter power than the xbox and with HD and sonys new giga pic format coming out it will make the model way better, i mean hell we already have dna protien folding on the ps3, which i dont believen many know about.
and than theres the problem of consumer confidentiality, How will people know that their data wont be sold or whatever.
That heart looks mighty tasty mmm
nom nom.
I just realized something, you would need a sensor atached to your chest to read your heart, "couph: if not in your chest" so whos gonna spend that money for those sensors. WOOT SCORE for the PS3.
No you don't need sensors for it to do the modeling, just plug a usb cable up you're ass and it's good to go.
...but can it play crysis
my heart will outlive the device used to see if its still working ok. nice!
I would never trust that piece of garbage RROD machine. Are you kidding me? you'd be dead for sure!!!!! LOL...
Once the young teen generation grows up every gaming console will need to be able to detect heart attacks in their users while playing. Those kids on the other end of the mic who play online 8 hours a day and have dropped out of school (or are in I dunno how'd they'd manage 8 hours in that case) can't be living to far into adulthood without major health issues. Back in my day we played outside, rode bikes/skateboards, and only when it was pouring or dark did we go in to play video games.
why xbox? he should've took a wii instead the quantity of wii's around the world is about the same population of asia! >_> plus they're freaking cheaper.
Really? Wii sold more than 1.3 billion?
they're cheaper? $250 is less than $200?
It's merely a modded gaming hardware. It does not have anything to do with gaming as opposed to mentioned in the article.
"Looks like we'll all have a response the next time someone tells us that gaming is good for nothing, right?"
1. They are using Xbox 360's because of reduced prices.
2. Micro$oft has no reason to care, it's free publicity.
3. Don't start the crap about "You can make a PC more powerful," they are using 360's because they need quantity, not one PC for the price of six Xbox 360's. Individual patients equals a need for individual Xbox's.
4. I doubt the consoles would be banned, they can't even be banned if it's not running the 360 dash.
5. @david "Doesn't this violate the EULA? Micorsoft should file a lawsuit against this clown."
The clown is in the mirror, go look. This is probably supported by M$.