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Get Zapped While Playing Video Games

itwbennett writes "Force feedback in video games (when the game controller shakes and vibrates in response to an experience in the game) has been around for a while now. But a research project on display at the Computer Human Interaction conference in Paris this week takes it a step further, administering small electric shocks."

65 comments

  1. I think I've seen this before. by mr_mischief · · Score: 5, Funny

    Those are high stakes, Mr. Bond.

    1. Re:I think I've seen this before. by chromaexcursion · · Score: 2

      Hmmm.
      Do the shocks get stronger in relation to the amount lost?

    2. Re:I think I've seen this before. by girlintraining · · Score: 4, Funny

      "Do you expect me to win?"

      "Ha ha, no Mr. Bond, I expect you to die!"

      --
      #fuckbeta #iamslashdot #dicemustdie
    3. Re:I think I've seen this before. by Zaelath · · Score: 2

      Oh, good, I'm glad first post shared my first thought ^^

    4. Re:I think I've seen this before. by Traiano · · Score: 1

      You beat us all to it! Here's a video of this game in action back in 1983.

    5. Re:I think I've seen this before. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I win, you lose, this game.

    6. Re:I think I've seen this before. by nightcats · · Score: 1

      That other sound you hear in the game would be Stanley Milgram laughing from his grave.

      --
      Development is programmable; Discovery is not programmable. (Fuller)
    7. Re:I think I've seen this before. by drkim · · Score: 3, Informative

      Hmmm.

      Do the shocks get stronger in relation to the amount lost?

      No, you're missing the point.
      The shocks are not a 'punishment' for losing.

      Have you ever played with a force-feedback joystick or racing wheel? The stick/wheel pushes against your hand to simulate the force of the wind/turbulence/road/turning force.

      What this system is trying to do (although it looks pretty primitive, he's just ripped open one of those commercial muscle stimulator) is use the force of your own muscle to create the same opposing force that the motor/servo in a force-feedback device would generate.

      Unfortunately, the video editing focused on the host being randomly shocked, which implies the punishment idea.

    8. Re: I think I've seen this before. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Do you expect us to die, Dr.Evil?

  2. I think I read this before by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I think I have seen this on slashdot before, I could be wrong, but I doubt it.

  3. Old, boring, uninspired... by gweihir · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Why do the same old idiotic ideas creep up again? Does nobody do any research before presenting their rather small ideas as "new" and "groundbreaking"?

    --
    Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
    1. Re:Old, boring, uninspired... by Trepidity · · Score: 4, Interesting

      The idea is in fact so old that it was used in pre-computer arcade games, from back in the days when there were electro-mechanical arcade cabinets with parts that get moved around by motors.

      On the plus side, at least the patent is expired. Here is a patent from 1946, describing a rather bizarre rabbit hunting game. If you shoot the rabbit successfully, a colored light turns on to illuminate the rabbit's face in red, which the patent describes as the rabbit blushing (I guess rabbits are embarrassed at being shot). But if you miss the rabbit with your shot, then the rabbit turns around and shoots you, which the cabinet implements by delivering a mild electric shock.

    2. Re:Old, boring, uninspired... by Intrepid+imaginaut · · Score: 3, Funny

      No, it's fine. Someone has finally invented technology that allows you to slap people over the internet. Should be mandatory I say.

    3. Re:Old, boring, uninspired... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

      No, it's fine. Someone has finally invented technology that allows you to slap people over the internet. Should be mandatory I say.

      Next thing I want after that is to be able to dial a persons license plate number on my phone and it will call them.

    4. Re:Old, boring, uninspired... by cusco · · Score: 3, Funny

      Back in 2000 one of my bosses had just hung up the phone after yelling at her kid. She said, "Brian, remember when we were in grade school and they said that by the year 2000 everyone would have phones where they could see the other person?" I agreed that yes, they had said that. "I don't want to see the other person, I want a phone where I can reach through and SLAP them."

      --
      "Think about how stupid the average person is. Now, realise that half of them are dumber than that." - George Carlin
    5. Re:Old, boring, uninspired... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Back in college my friend built an attachment for a mouse.

      He then wrote a mod for quake.

      Yep, the electrical shock would scale with the damage dealt.

      Most players responded to this stimulus by playing rather conservatively or really just hiding for their lives.

    6. Re:Old, boring, uninspired... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yeah, real violence tends to bring out the coward in leet gamers.

    7. Re:Old, boring, uninspired... by Inconexo · · Score: 1

      Again, this is what this video is not about. The text is not clear enough, but if you actually watch it, you see that the idea is to stimulate the muscle to give the illusion you are exercing force. It is a more subtle form of feedback.

    8. Re:Old, boring, uninspired... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    9. Re:Old, boring, uninspired... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      like this?

      http://nodejs.org/

    10. Re:Old, boring, uninspired... by FilmedInNoir · · Score: 1

      You scoff now, but Smell-O-Vision-Rama is the wave of the future my friend!

      --
      Sig. Sig. Sputnik
    11. Re:Old, boring, uninspired... by saveferrousoxide · · Score: 1

      gee... that sounds...awesome? no..no...that's not the word...terrifying! there it is. that's the word.

  4. gameplay by FishTankX · · Score: 0

    I'm sure the game play experience will be electrifying!

  5. Which James Bond movie? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Video game in one James Bond movie zapped players with painful electric shocks.

    1. Re:Which James Bond movie? by SteveFoerster · · Score: 1
      --
      Space game using normal deck of cards: http://BattleCards.org
  6. Can we apply this to tele-dildonics? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Here comes the SHOCKER!

  7. You mean like this? by ArcadeNut · · Score: 1
    --
    Visit the Arcade Restoration Workshop @ http://www.arcaderestoration.com
    1. Re:You mean like this? by ArcadeNut · · Score: 2

      I know bad form to reply to your own posts...

      here is a ton of games that shock the player:

      http://www.electricshock.org/electric-shock-games.html

      --
      Visit the Arcade Restoration Workshop @ http://www.arcaderestoration.com
    2. Re:You mean like this? by N3Roaster · · Score: 1

      And here's another from 2006: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Painstation

      --
      Remember RFC 873!
    3. Re:You mean like this? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And here's another from 2006: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Painstation

      Yes, I came here to cite the Painstation but you beat me to it. Furthermore, was anyone surprised to learn that the Painstation was the product of Germans?

  8. Does it come with Kim Basinger? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "Thank you, gentlemen. Eternal battle for the domination of the world begins. - We play for dollars. - Random target selection: Spain."

    How prescient.

  9. Sounds like ... by PhxBlue · · Score: 1

    Someone took inspiration from Kepesh-Yakshi.

    --
    !#@%*)anks for hanging up the phone, dear.
  10. Took long enough... by TheCarp · · Score: 2

    I was having fantasies about this about a decade ago.

    What I always wanted was to combine this with a game like counterstrike. Multiple electrodes, on various body parts.... you take a hit in the arm, you get your arm shocked, leg is leg etc. Then.... for the coup de grace, when you die, a stun shock (probably not safe to use a real stun gun like I was thinking at the time, but something toned down a bit for safety)

    My hypothesis was, the second round after your first death should be the most intense round of counterstrike you ever played. I really wanted to see what would happen if you played a map out where everyone in game was hooked up to one of these. I bet you would see some serious changes in play style from many players.

    --
    "I opened my eyes, and everything went dark again"
    1. Re:Took long enough... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I really wanted to see what would happen if you played a map out where everyone in game was hooked up to one of these. I bet you would see some serious changes in play style from many players.

      I'll bet you'd get a bunch of people saying "Fuck this!" and quitting.

    2. Re:Took long enough... by KronosReaver · · Score: 1

      Get out from in-front of the computer and go play Paintball... When you get hit, pull out a stun gun and knock yourself out.

    3. Re:Took long enough... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      People don`t play Counter-Strike the way they play paintball...which was his point.

    4. Re:Took long enough... by wagnerrp · · Score: 1

      As many people have mentioned, this is not about "zapping" the user, but rather using electrical stimulation to externally control the muscles in your arms, replacing traditional force feedback motors or vibrators. There was an article several months ago about someone using a similar technique to provide force feedback in handheld gaming systems.

    5. Re:Took long enough... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      From what I understand, when you get hit by a paintball, it already hurts like hell. Why would anybody want to stun themselves some more?

    6. Re:Took long enough... by SleazyRidr · · Score: 1

      For your death you just need to use the all the electrodes at once. Does Counterstrike support getting shot in the balls?

    7. Re:Took long enough... by jessly · · Score: 1

      I was having fantasies about this about a decade ago.

      What I always wanted was to combine this with a game like counterstrike. Multiple electrodes, on various body parts.... you take a hit in the arm, you get your arm shocked, leg is leg etc. Then.... for the coup de grace, when you die, a stun shock (probably not safe to use a real stun gun like I was thinking at the time, but something toned down a bit for safety)

      My hypothesis was, the second round after your first death should be the most intense round of counterstrike you ever played. I really wanted to see what would happen if you played a map out where everyone in game was hooked up to one of these. I bet you would see some serious changes in play style from many players.

      You are right !, so it really great when you came anh girl xinh

  11. Tekken Torture in 2001 by Arakageeta · · Score: 1

    Electric shock in a game is not new. Tekken Torture from 2001: http://www.eddostern.com/tekken_torture_tournament.html

  12. Already done by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=let-4RxEvS8

  13. Its been done before and better over a decade ago. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    http://www.painstation.de/

    Painstation has been around since 2001 and features not only electrical shocks but also heat and a wire whip.

    And technically the idea was around even before then a 007 movie called never say never again in the 1980s. So I really hope the guy who made thought he was being original, or the person who started this story thinking they found something new because they are both wrong.

    Besides, this is a game designed to have real world pain as a result. Who exactly do you think would build a better one? A French guy? Or a German? That question is about as stupid as "Who would build a better puking tentacle rape robot. Japan? Or mexico?"

  14. when SG1 tried some thing like this it did not end by Joe_Dragon · · Score: 1

    when SG1 tried some thing like this it did not end well.

  15. Didn't Microsoft already do this years ago? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2005/02/18

  16. Games People Play... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
  17. The gaming industry is in serious trouble by OhANameWhatName · · Score: 1

    Game studios are going broke left right and centre. Games publishers are falling out of their trees and the ideal solution? Electro shock therapy for gamers?

    This is perhaps the worst idea ever. Force feedback controllers were never really popular and this is just an extension of that bad idea.

    1. Re:The gaming industry is in serious trouble by Kelbear · · Score: 1

      Dark Souls and Demon Souls were successful games.

      Seems like there's a significant niche of gamers who really enjoy self-inflicted pain.

  18. Noobs. by pla · · Score: 1

    Ah... I see TFA's authors never owned an NES Advantage joystick. Suffice it to say, it administered small electric shocks as well - albeit not intentionally.

    I never really found that aspect of it to add much to the gaming experience.

    1. Re:Noobs. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I had a NES Advantage and never once received an electric shock.

    2. Re:Noobs. by pla · · Score: 1

      Then you never sat cross-legged in shorts on a warm day while playing. Like frickin' clockwork, as soon as you got sweaty enough, zap!

      But not a big zap - Not enough that you would even recognize it as a shock, at first. More like:
      "hmm, something pinched me" [looks around]
      "No, nothing to pinch me, something pointy on it stabbing me?" [thoroughly inspects the bottom of the Advantage]
      "DAMNIT, I still don't see anything, did a bee get me?" [tears the neighboring three square yards of floor apart searching]
      "Oh! Right, this damned thing zaps me every time I wear shorts on a warm day. Fucking cheap-ass Jap crap!" [gets a large book to put between my lap and the torture device, which solves the problem entirely]

  19. Get Real by pubwvj · · Score: 1

    Or you could go play with the fence energizer...

    http://sugarmtnfarm.com/2007/07/23/calibrating-pain-fence-testing/

    Farmville deluxe and with real bacon!

  20. This was already done in 2003. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    http://web.archive.org/web/20030619165121/http://www.techtv.com/screensavers/howto/story/0,24330,3450946,00.html

  21. Not sure about this one... by djbckr · · Score: 1

    Usually I like progress in UI/UX. This one seems like a bad idea. If properly shocked, a person with a not-perfect pacemaker (your natural one) could go into fibrillation. Cue the lawyers...

    1. Re:Not sure about this one... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well,a person with any pacemaker could (in theory) have problems. There's all sorts of electronic equipment I'm not supposed to used due to my pacemaker. Look at the manual for any scale that tries to measure BF%, it'll state not to use it if you have a pacemaker or defibrillator due to the risk the mild electric current it sends through you interfering with the implanted device. That doesn't mean the risk is very high.

  22. This has already been done by Cyfun · · Score: 1

    Just take apart your Xbox controller, remove the Force Feedback motors, attach their wires to metal pads on the controller surface where your hand touches it. Then give it to your friend to try. :D

    --
    In Soviet Russia, dot slashes YOU!
  23. Anyone remember that arcade ATV game by Atari by GoodNewsJimDotCom · · Score: 1

    I think the arcade game ATV game by Atari was out around in 1990. When you shot your opponent it smacked their seat with a small impact. My friend got pissed off at being smacked by me, that he stopped on the side of the road. So I parked behind him and went full auto. He just left the game and walked away. Poor dude got nailed by a jelly fish not too much longer after that.

  24. Finally, My Killing Simulator has feedback!!!! by Nyder · · Score: 1

    Word, now I can get some real feedback when I play my favorite killing simulator, I mean, my favorite First Person Shooter.

    --
    Be seeing you...
  25. Professor Milgram... by unitron · · Score: 1

    ...claims prior art.

    --

    I see even classic Slashdot is now pretty much unusable on dial up anymore.

  26. Missed a great opportunity here ... by pinkushun · · Score: 1

    A pity they drew the "gamers" slip and not "tech support clients" when they drew from the "target audience" hat.

  27. Re:when SG1 tried some thing like this it did not by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    What eppisode?

  28. How strong can the shock be? by TuringCheck · · Score: 1
    Gives an entirely new (or rather classic) sense to Fatality!

    Just imagine how the power grid will take a scene of carnage like this. Please, think of the electrons!

  29. old news, it's been done plenty of times before. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    tsia

  30. Re:when SG1 tried some thing like this it did not by iRommel · · Score: 1

    I think he means Avatar, S08E06 Fuck I'm sad.