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Games To Take Your Breath Away

Posted by simoniker on from the chill-out-get-high-score dept.

Agent Provocateur writes "Here's a great use of biofeedback to control your game. Instead of using a joystick or mouse to control on-screen characters, the game uses sensors stuck to a player's body. See the story at the BBC." This was developed for educational and recuperative purposes, but seems to be the latest in a long line of unorthodox control devices like the Nintendo Power Glove or the Samba De Amigo maracas.

10 comments

  1. Games to take your breath away? by Lars+T. · · Score: 0
    The story is 6 hours old, and not even a FP? Now that is breathtaking.

    Anyway, apart (and maybe not even that) from using breathing for controling , this is hardly news. There have been similar simple games interfaced by biofeedback for several years.

    --

    Lars T.

    To the guy who modded me down from perfect to terrible Karma - Apple haters still suck

    1. Re:Games to take your breath away? by Directrix1 · · Score: 1

      True, that. Is this some kind of new slashdot category that nobody is subscribed too, or something?

      --
      Occam's razor is the blind faith in the natural selection of least resistance and in universal oversimplification. -- EF
  2. What was wrong with the power glove? by roseblood · · Score: 1

    Other than it's weight, and it was HOT and made you sweat? For moves you couldn't pull off w/ hand or finger moves there was a conviently located set of buttons and control pad on the wrist of the game playing hand.

    --
    There are lies, damned lies, and statistics.
  3. Full set of motion sensors by glenrm · · Score: 1

    A full set of motion sensor, like a mo-cap unit would be much more fun.

    --
    Onward to the Aether Sphere!
  4. The Obvious Joke by Bander · · Score: 1

    And I thought this was going to be about a game that casts you as a WHO operative tracking down the source of the SARS epidemic...

    -- Bander

    --
    What we need more of is science!
  5. what happens....... by 95_gst_al · · Score: 3, Funny

    ....when you sneeze? Does it pause the game, or unleash a critical blow on your enemy?

    --
    When all else fails, piss on it. At least you will feel better in some kind of way.
  6. OT: Maracas -- official or generic? by twifkak · · Score: 1

    Does anybody who's used both know if the generic maracas are a good approximation of the official? Looking to make a purchase.

    --
    I know you were joking, but I want my Karma, so I'm going to reiterate your post in a serious tone.
    1. Re:OT: Maracas -- official or generic? by Allison+Geode · · Score: 1

      I have two sets: the first set broke. samba fans work well, but thats the set I had that broke: one of the maracas no longer responds. so I bought the other third party kind, Cha Cha Amigo, and it functions VERY well, however, the springs inside the maracas (that are used to detect motion) tend to run a bit stiff... so I opened mine up, and... well, I need to find my soldering iron, and get a new spring to make it all right. I've read that the cha cha amigo maracas work better than the samba fans, and even the sega official kind, because it uses a different method of positional detection to determine the height of the maracas, though I'm not sure of the actual technology involved. I'm a gamer first, geek second.

    2. Re:OT: Maracas -- official or generic? by twifkak · · Score: 1

      :P thanks

      Yeah, I've heard that technology line before; wanted to verify... Thanks for the info.

      --
      I know you were joking, but I want my Karma, so I'm going to reiterate your post in a serious tone.
  7. For people with disabilities by ShaoK · · Score: 1
    Way back in the early Nintendo Power days, they ran a small article on a handicapped boy who played NES. He controlled the D-Pad with his chin, and i believed pressed A or B by sucking/blowing into a tube.

    (would probably work well for a lot of games, i would hate to play Track and Field that way)

    "Alternative" methods of control are probably best used outside the sphere of commercial games. If an application of this is used it will end up in the pile of R.O.B.s, Power Pads, U-Forces, and specialized Intellivision sports controllers.