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15 Minutes of Fame: Full-body WoW with motion-sensing software
From Hollywood celebrities to the guy next door, millions of people have made World of Warcraft a part of their lives. How do you play WoW? We're giving each approach its own 15 Minutes of Fame. The boss is enraging at 7% health and you're locked on target, hunched over your keyboard in a white-knuckled frenzy to squeeze every last drop of DPS from your avatar. Finally, the beast succumbs to your assault, and you sit back, exquisitely aware of the tension crumpling your neck and shoulders and radiating into your fingertips. As you pull in a deep, shuddering breath of relief, you wonder if perhaps it might be more natural to simply stand in front of your screen and show the computer, using gestures similar to those of your character, what to do. Now, you can. Dr. Skip Rizzo, associate director at the University of Southern California's Institute for Creative Technologies, is head of a research project that's applying the same kind of technology used in the Xbox Kinect to the World of Warcraft. The aim of the project, however, is not so much to turn games like WoW into virtual tarantellas of movement and gesture but to make games more accessible to disabled players and to open new avenues for rehabilitation, therapy and even education. The project's Flexible Action and Articulated Skeleton Toolkit (FAAST) middleware integrates full-body control with games and virtual reality applications, using tools like PrimeSensor and the Kinect on the OpenNI framework.
Paralyzed man can stand and walk again, thanks to spinal implant
Here's an amazing story to end your week on a high note: a 25-year-old paraplegic is now walking again, thanks to a groundbreaking procedure developed by neuroscientists at the University of Louisville, UCLA and Cal Tech. The Oregon man, Rob Summers, was paralyzed below the chest in 2006, after getting hit by a speeding car. This week, however, doctors announced that Summers can now stand up on his own and remain standing for up to four minutes. With the help of a special harness, he can even take steps on a treadmill and can move his lower extremities for the first time in years. It was all made possible by a spinal implant that emits small pulses of electricity, designed to replicate signals that the brain usually sends to coordinate movement. Prior to receiving the implant in 2009, Summers underwent two years of training on a treadmill, with a harness supporting his weight and researchers moving his legs. This week's breakthrough comes after 30 years of research, though scientists acknowledge that this brand of epidural stimulation still needs to be tested on a broader sample of subjects before any definitive conclusions can be drawn. Summers, meanwhile, seems understandably elated. "This procedure has completely changed my life," the former baseball player said. "To be able to pick up my foot and step down again was unbelievable, but beyond all of that my sense of well-being has changed." We can only imagine.
Students use Wii Balance Board for kids' physical therapy system (video)
Nintendo's kid-tested, researcher-approved Wii Balance Board has struck at the heart of the medical supply industry yet again -- this time, the Bluetooth-connected scale is being used to help physically challenged children at Shriners Hospital in Houston. Seniors at Rice University hand-machined a set of force-sensitive parallel bars and programmed a monster-shooting game called Equilibrium to get kids excited about improving their walking gait, where they can play and score points with each proper step they take. The game automatically ratchets up the difficulty as patients improve, and handrails will play a part too, with a custom three-axis sensor box able to detect how much patients rely on the parallel bars (and dock points accordingly) in an effort to improve their posture. Yep, that sounds just a wee bit more useful than the Balance Board lie detector or the Wii Fit Roomba. Video after the break.
Stem cell therapy restores British man's eyesight
Russell Turnbull, now 38, lost almost all the sight in his right eye after trying to break up a fight and being sprayed with ammonia 15 years ago. The result for him was what's known as Limbal Stem Cell Deficiency, which caused him great pain, the need for therapeutic treatment, and economic dependency. Good news for Russell is that he can put all that behind him now, after becoming one of the first recipients of a new stem cell grafting procedure, whereby healthy tissue from his left eye was implanted into his right and -- just like a video game medpack -- restored his vision to normal. For the moment, this treatment is limited to patients with at least one healthy eye, but given the pluripotent nature of stem cells, it is hoped that tissue from elsewhere in the body could one day be used to regenerate damaged parts, such as the cornea in this case. You may find further enlightenment in the video after the break.
Checking In, an app for when you're stressed out
Too much stress can kill. According to the American Medical Association, stress is a factor in over 75% of sickness and the World Health Organization has stated that stress is America's number one health problem. We all experience some degree of stress and that's on the increase due to information overload, the increasing complexity of our lives and a litany of reasons too numerous to count. We all know this on some level, but what can be done about it? One possible solution can be found in a very intriguing app called Check In: The 5 Tools of EBT [iTunes Link] $.99 US. EBT stands for Emotional Brain Training, a method that was developed over the last 30 years at the University of California, San Francisco, to act as an appetite suppressant for obese children. Eventually, in response to new discoveries in neuroscience (the study of the nervous system) EBT reached its present form. EBT is a brain-based emotional response training method that purports to teach people how to effectively process stress so that their stress level returns to one of well being. The method involves 5 specific levels of stress ranging from 1: feeling great, to 5: totally stressed out. Once a level is determined you are given systematic and repetitious tools to raise your level. With enough practice transitory results can become longer lasting as you, in effect, rewire your brain to deal with stress in a positive manner. When the app is first run, you'll see the screen at the top of this post. There are two major components of the app: one that determines your current brain state and another that helps you raise the brain state, eventually getting to 1.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy in your pocket with the CBTReferee app
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is a type of psychotherapy that deals with dysfunctional emotions and feelings in a structured manner usually involving journaling, and reflecting on your journaled thoughts. The idea is to discover incorrect thinking and emotions. It has been found to be effective in quite a number of disorders including depression and post-traumatic stress disorder and OCD. CBTReferee [iTunes Link] $4.99US, was written by Andrew Arrow to assist in his personal therapist-directed CBT. Finding himself always needing to carry around a notebook, since negative thoughts and feelings happen at random, he built quite a simple app for his own use. Finding it personally effective, he decided to put it in the app store, not really knowing if it would be useful for others. Feedback he received convinced him otherwise. The app contains a brief description of CBT and clear instruction on how to properly utilize the app. It's just enough information to get started, and doesn't bog down in theory, so you can get up to speed quickly. When a negative thought occurs, the app directs you to write it down immediately. Once done, tapping the next button takes you through a screen of ten potential fallacies inherent in your entry. Some of these include: Nothing or All (black and white thinking where one small flaw kills an entire concept), Conclusion Jumping (assuming facts that don't' exist), Emotions as Evidence (assuming that if you feel a certain way, it must be true), and many others. With the journaled text visible, scroll through the list and check any of the options that you think may apply to your statement. Next, you are presented with a type-in screen titled: Referee Says, where, based on your statement and the options you have chosen, you try to write as objective an assessment as possible, to negate the statement.
WoW.com interview: Dr. Hilarie Cash of reSTART Internet Addiction Recovery Program
We've talked about Internet addiction before a few times here on the site, but it's always been through the lens of the media. Certainly there are players of WoW and other games out there who play the game so much it's affecting their lives, but most of the cases we've heard about have been a little over the top -- parents crying that their children are lost, kids playing nonstop and picking up bad health and social habits from this horrible game.And so, when we heard that there was a new center opening for Internet and gaming addiction in Washington State, we decided, instead of just listening to the media reports, to sit down with the co-founder herself and have a more thoughtful conversation about gaming addiction: how and why it happens, how they're trying to fight it, and how it's portrayed, from both a media and a gamers' perspective. Dr. Hilarie Cash has been working with Internet addicts for 15 years -- she's the cofounder of two different addiction clinics, including the new reSTART Center, and the co-author of "Videogames & Your Kids: How Parents Stay in Control." You can read our exclusive interview with her by hitting the "Read more" link below.
Study finds unique gaming disease 'PlayStation palmar hidradenitis'
Based on a report from BBC, it would appear researchers have discovered a disease that has hitherto gone undiagnosed by modern medicine: PlayStation palmar hidradenitis. As one might imagine, it has something to do with "PlayStation" and the "palms of your hands." See, using that controller is not only killing your (virtual) enemies, it's also killing you.According to the report, researchers emphasized the case of one 12-year-old girl who arrived at Geneva University Hospital in Switzerland with sores on her palms. She had recently struck up a fascination with a PlayStation game (sorry, the exact title isn't mentioned) and despite developing these sores, continued to play. That's when her folks brought her to the hospital. After 10 days of abstaining from the deadly activity, however, she was sore free! We're sorry, but we wouldn't call that "PlayStation palmar hidradenitis." We'd probably call it: Stop squeezing the controller like you want to break it!Our favorite line in the entire piece has to be this: "For the disorder to only affect the hands is very unusual." So, wait, you're telling us it's unusual for this so-called disease, the one that comes from using a game controller, to only affect the hands? What other body parts are interacting with your controller?[Thanks, RazorD!]
Wii Fit helps amputees adjust in the UK
Despite some saying that Wii Fit is only gathering dust in the closet, UK amputees are using the software and bundled Balance Board to help them with their treatment. This isn't the first we've heard about a Nintendo product helping folks out with their physical therapy, but this is definitely one of the most interesting. Rather than just getting people to be more active by playing Wii Sports or something, the Balance Board and Wii Fit software are helping people adapt to their new prosthetic limbs. From walking to simply leaning, it's helping them adapt to their new, albeit very unfortunate, way of life.%Gallery-23454%[Via Joystiq]
Wii Fit helping UK amputees lead a balanced life
Say what you will about the efficacy of Wii Fit as a fitness tool, but at least one UK hospital has found a perfect use for its balance-centric design: helping amputees adapt to walking on their new prosthetic limbs. Nintendo World Report has a piece on Seacroft Hospital in Leeds, which is using Wii Fit's mini-games in addition to traditional physical therapy.According to Seacroft senior physiotherapist, Lynn Hirst, the key usefulness of the Balance Board and games is enabling patients to tell "where they are taking their weight" in real time. Hirst credits the mini-games with helping "[patients improve] their core stability and their balance." Hey -- that sounds like a great use for a Balance Board.
Q&A with the developers of Koi Pond
Macworld has published a chat with the devs of one of the much-loved Koi Pond. Of course, the weird thing about Koi Pond is that it's more of a nice iPhone demo than anything else -- but just the same, it's cool to hear from designer Bill Trost and engineer Brandon Bogle.They used to work on MMOs for Sony (and now work with a new company called Trion, also developing MMO games), and bought their first Macs specifically to try out the iPhone development program. The program was designed as a water simulator, and the koi were added later (as opposed to many of the devs we've heard from so far, these guys were actually concerned that their app was worth less than $1). And the little stories about feedback on the app are really interesting -- apparently a therapist has used it with Alzheimer's patients as a quick form of therapy.Unfortunately, they won't mention new projects, but they do give some good advice to other iPhone developers: don't consider the unique, device-specific functions of the iPhone secondary. We'd have to agree -- there are several ways the accelerometer and touchscreen can tweak even the most traveled genres and forms of video games and software. Just recreating old Palm and PDA apps isn't good enough -- iPhone-specific apps like Koi Pond are what will really make a splash on the App Store.
Hospital puts Wii to use, surgeons praise it
We all know about the relationship between surgeons and the Wii. No, we don't mean Trauma Center, we mean real-life doctors using the tech behind the Wii to train them for surgery. This piece from ABC7 news in California shows one hospital where it's being put to work.Surgical resident, Jeff Henke, commented that "this does really help." He further added that it "prepares you to enter the operating room." Now, we may be a bit biased, but we're not surprised that the Wii is such a diverse system. it's used to doing what no video game console could in the past.[Via Codename Revolution]
Wii Fit the new go-to for rehab clinics?
Where in the past Wii Sports has been the ideal Wii-based solution for rehabilitation patients, Nintendo's newest craze, Wii Fit, is now stepping up to show everyone that it has something to offer outside of a really fun hula hoop mini-game. Now, sports trainers are looking to Wii Fit to help rehabilitate injured athletes. "We are looking to incorporate Wii Fit into the athletic training room as far as rehabilitation, for example, on post-operative knees and ankles," said Sue Stanley-Green, professor of athletic training at Florida Southern College. She noted that the success of the console in other rehab scenarios fueled their interest in Wii Fit, stating that "Fitness-oriented video games are also being used more and more in nursing homes for rehabilitation," also adding "Fitness video games have some really good potential to improve fitness in everyone."%Gallery-24459%[Via Engadget]
CNN talks gaming for health
CNN is all over the Wii Fit thing. First, they had Mario Armstrong come in and demo the package for them, now Dr. Sanjay Gupta is taking time out to discuss the benefits of using games as a health tool, namely in the rehabilitation sector. We've heard stories about places using Wii to help rehabilitate their patients, but it's now gaining more ground, as Dr. Gupta mentions the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is funding 12 different studies that will specifically see if games can be used as a means for making us healthier individuals.If all the serious medical talk bores you, then laugh at the CNN employees doing the hula hoop minigame while one the Balance Board. They really get into it. %Gallery-4745%[Via Go Nintendo]
Virtual Worlds Help In Addiction Therapy
Virtual worlds are all too often spoken of as something you're in danger of becoming addicted to. We've all heard the stories of inertia, bloat, pallor and unemptied cat trays. But Professor Patrick Bordnick, associate of the University of Houston, is using VR to help treat addictions in the course of therapy. As Professor Bordnick points out, imagination alone isn't a particularly powerful tool to recreate the situations in which a recovering addict learns to say 'no': 'As a therapist, I can tell you to pretend my office is a bar, and I can ask you to close your eyes and imagine the environment, but you'll know that it's not real'. Rather than ask the patient to visualise a bar stocked with alcohol or a party where cigarettes are on offer, Bordnick uses a VR helmet along with other components such as olfactory stimulation and actor participation to create a highly plausible and immersive environment. Although the patient consciously knows he is taking part in a VR simulation, the immersion has proven sufficient to build intense cravings, just as if the focus of the addiction had really been present.By supplying an enviroment that is realistic enough to stimulate cravings but remains controlled and safe, Bordnick can gradually train patients in the use of coping skills. As those skills will have been developed in the face of a close analogue of the real thing, the patient is much better equipped to contend with the challenge of the real-world situation.
Therapists now attempting to battle Parkinson's with Wii
The Wii is further branching out into new areas of therapy, as we find out that not only is the console helping wounded troops and those who have suffered strokes and the like, but also to aid those in controlling their Parkinson's. When our obsession becomes less of a box to kill boredom and more a box to heal human life, you can bet that makes us feel all warm and fuzzy inside.It's all part of a Medical College of Georgia study to see if the Nintendo Wii can aid in the occupational therapy of those with Parkinson's. So, while it isn't a full-fledged commitment to the treating the disease through Wii, it's an acknowledgment that the Wii has helped others and could be something to help more folks in the future."We're hoping to show a slowing of the progression of the disease and a decrease in medication while increasing function. If we can teach patients to exercise and do functional activities, maybe we can have them take less medications," says Dr. Ben Herz, assistant professor of occupational therapy in the School of Allied Health Sciences and one half of the main team behind this study. "Because the Wii is interactive and you have to do certain functional movements to be successful," he goes on to say, "it's an effective modality for working with Parkinson's patients," says Dr. Herz. "One of the therapists uses the Wii for timing and loosening up, and the other uses it for coordination and balance issues."[Via Go Nintendo]
Wii-based physical therapy not just for Americans any more
If you were someone not living in the confines of North America, you might have thought we were all going crazy over here, throwing the old physical therapy ways out the window and openly embracing new, Wii-based solutions that might not be totally tested. But hey, we're not complaining, if the people say it helps, then we're all for it.Well, England is finally getting with the times, as the Wii is being used in physiotherapy for some in the south-east portion of the country. Specifically, at Queen Victoria NHS Foundation Trust in East Grinstead, where Maureen Adams, the head of therapy, comments that when "recovering from an operation, such as a skin graft, patients may need recover normal use of their hands and arms. Using the Wii is a way of significantly improving movement, while not seeing the activity as therapy, which helps motivate them. Wii can also be done at home, so patients are able to continue their own personal therapies."Basically, they're using it for all the same reasons as other folk have been using it. And hey, any way to help these folks regain movement and rebuild their physical selves, we're down with it.
Today's most therapeutic video: Wii rehab
America's sweetheart, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, reports for CNN about the Wii being used as a physical therapy device. Ohio State University's Medical Center, like some other hospitals, says the system is a fun way to help patients. No word on if those caregivers had to buy one of the GameStop bundles to score the console.See the segment after the break.
CNN explores the Wii as rehab
Considering the Wii has been on shelves for over a year, we wouldn't call this "breaking news," but mainstream media hasn't ever been all that informed about gaming. Still, it's nice to see the console being covered from an angle other than "video games turn your child into a psycho killer." That and a 30-minute session of Wii three times a week can really help in the physical recovery process. It really is a wonderful little system.See also: Video games more effective than medication for pain?[Via Go Nintendo]
Video games more effective than medication for pain?
Wii Fanboy has presented many stories about how the Wii has been able to help those in need. Whether it be soldiers dealing with combat wounds or the local retirement homes' residents stay active, it's a system that has amazed one and all. Now, a Canadian researcher is finding that video games on the whole have become quite the aid for those with chronic pain.The case of the Wii is especially interesting in regards to this study, because it's been shown to be an excellent physical therapy tool. Not only that, but the immersion factor has to be higher than that of the other current-gen systems. Sure, they have more photo-realistic graphics, but what gets you into the game more? Personally, we're pro-Wii, but then you probably knew that typing in the URL to our blog or however else you got here (tapping your heels together?).
