Wii Vitality Sensor detailed in patent application
What's your relax fluid level? You don't know -- you would if you were playing the hypothetical example game used in this Nintendo patent application for the Wii Vitality Sensor accessory (dug up by Siliconera). By playing minigames including one in which you tilt the Wiimote and breathe to navigate a winding path, players are supposed to increase the "relax fluid" in their virtual avatars. That "fluid" represents your cardiac cycle, presumably with more fluid indicating a slower heart rate.
In addition to this Innergy-like game, the Vitality Sensor patent also offers details of how the device works -- perhaps more details than we needed. Essentially, it sends an infrared light through your finger, measuring the amount of light-absorbing hemoglobin that passes through the beam. Hmm, does that hurt?
