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PC Games (Games) Hardware

Biofeedback Video Game 29

Posted by Zonk from the be-one-with-the-joystick,-grasshopper dept.
Thanks to georgehm3 for pointing out a video game available at bio-medical.com called The Journey to Wild Divine. The game uses a series of sensors connected to your pc via USB port to determine your body's state of relaxation. From the informational page: "We take them on a mythological tour and on this tour, we teach them ancient techniques such as breathing exercises, meditation exercises, a number of tools you can use in real life."
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Biofeedback Video Game More

Biofeedback Video Game

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  • Old news (Score:2, Informative)

    by Smilin ( 840286 )
    The Commodore 64 had a program that would do this.

    Basically it had two modes. Mode 1 would display a visual kalidescope of colors that would change hue as you relaxed. Mode 2 was this game that you had to control a hot air balloon as it flew over and under obstacles.

  • relax on Windows? (Score:3, Funny)

    by FCAdcock ( 531678 ) on Tuesday January 04, 2005 @01:59PM (#11255298) Homepage Journal
    144.95 to learn to relax while running Windows? Can't I just install Fedora for free?

  • The real website (Score:3, Informative)

    by SSpade ( 549608 ) on Tuesday January 04, 2005 @02:00PM (#11255317) Homepage

    The URL you're looking for is http://www.wilddivine.com/ [wilddivine.com]

    Good game, been out for quite a while. Works well.

  • It's an expensive ohm-meter. It's just measuring the resistance across your body.
    Your resistance is affected by mood (because it affects the salt in your blood, iirc)
    • Actually I think they just use your pulse to determine how relaxed you are. In the article, "Using the biosignals in their body -- we use heart rate, we use the same technology used in lie detector tests" or maybe that is just to hide the fact that they really use resistance. Yeah, that's it.

      • Re:Resistance (Score:3, Informative)

        by phauxfinnish ( 698087 )
        From the site:
        Three "Magic Rings" Biofeedback finger sensors,
        GSR & Heart Rate, with connecting cable

        I agree that TFA is poorly worded while describing how it works, but at least their package manifest correctly identifies the technology.

        • They also need a tumesence monitor, EKG, and respiration rate. Brainwave would be good but too expensie.

          They do make a brainwave video game mod. Its for ADD kids. It works by monitoring brain state, when the kid is in an attentive state the controller functions correctly. If the kid is not in the correct state the reaction time by the controller slows making the game F*&SKING annoying. Great idea but a ivory tower hardware setup.
    • If you want a "toy" worth the money, check out a full EEG biofeedback rig. Yes, I did some work for these guys, but I don't get any benefit from plugging 'em (no royalties, etc). I just thought it was facinating stuff. Check eegspectrum.com or neurocybernetics.com for more info. Their gear is intended for psycho-therapy type applications, but on milder settings it can be relaxing (of course, if you don't know what you're doing, you can also give yourself a migraine from hell, this is real medical gear).

  • Open it up! (Score:3, Insightful)

    by dr.badass ( 25287 ) on Tuesday January 04, 2005 @02:16PM (#11255536) Homepage
    I would be a lot more intrested in paying $150 for something like this if not for the hokey New Age garbage surrounding it. If it were open enough that anyone could write apps for it, I'd snatch it up right away.

  • You should see these guys (Score:3, Informative)

    by x00101010x ( 631764 ) on Tuesday January 04, 2005 @02:41PM (#11255883) Homepage
    I did some work on a few neurofeedback projects for Neurocybernetics a couple years ago. It's really facinating stuff. Their programmes go further than simple relaxation and actually work as an alternative to psychoactive medications for the treatment of anything from bipolar to ADD to drug addictions (by focusing on different ranges of brain waves). They use feedback to train your brain to balance itself (and i won't say more than that without fear of getting the bejeezus sued outta me). Check 'em out here: http://neurocybernetics.com/ [neurocybernetics.com] (I did some of the 3D stuff)
  • Now all they need to do is work John McEnroe into the game, and they can build The Chair [wchstv.com] as seen on ABC! You can re-enact all three episodes in your own home!

  • Playing it as Fantasy game (Score:3, Informative)

    by stripe42 ( 845170 ) on Tuesday January 04, 2005 @03:56PM (#11256810)

    I have been looking at this game over the past year or so and received it for Christmas. The biofeedback works well and I'm just beginning to learn to control the various elements. I've worked with sound-induced brain wave synchronization (anyone remember mindsync?) and this game reminds of some of those mental states.

    The "new age" theme to me is more like playing a D&D game in the role of a wizard or cleric.

    The graphics remind me of Myst -- highly rendered static scenes with motion captured "actors" and some CG decoration (waterfall, birds) and objects for biofeedback training exercises (floating balls, fire, pin-wheels...). Navigation is like watching a short movie as you progress from area to area.

    I rather enjoy the music -- it fits the mood well. I'd classify it as Ambient.

    I'm cheap and skeptical so the price is more than I'd want to pay without a trial (however that'd be achieved), but I am very satisfied with the product. The only two additions I'd like so far are 1) recording biofeedback input of what was being detected by the sensors, and 2) ability to quickly jump from exercise to exercise instead of navigating the game-space. I look forward to exploring the project on source forge posted above. Thanks for the link!

    • you can get #2 if you email there support and ask for the "chapter menu download" I don't know why they took it if off the site.

      They have a second game coming out soon with Deepak Chopra as one of the characters. You can read about it here [organicauthority.com].

      • Thanks! I'll ask support for that. For some reason I never think of contacting a company for requests, but how else are they going to know? I suspect working for a corporation has diminished my expectations.

        I have wanted a biofeedback setup for a while but always thought they would be too advanced or too cheesy, so this is a nice middle road. I know a number of other people that will be interested in the Chopra link too.

    • You know, I always wished they made an RPG out of this thing like you mentioned. It would be so cool if you actually had to concentrate and think a certain way to cast a certain spell, and how well you did it determined its effectiveness. That would ROCK.

      That being said, whats the replayability on this sucker? How many different "minigames" are there? Is it a game you definitely need to play alone, or would it be a cool thing for a few friends to sit around playing?

      • Replayability I can't quite speak too as I've only gone through about half dozen exercises/minigames. But I think it'll be fun from time to time, especially with the chapter selection mentioned above. I am currently viewing this as meditation time. You have to "get excited" to increase your heart rate for some of the minigames, so it's more than just solemn relaxation with rhythmic breathing. Very yogic.

        The book says you can play alone or with someone, and that towards the end it may be required to

      • With the "chapter menu" the replay is pretty high. You can go to the mini-game( more of a mini bio feed back session) that you like. I do this often but probably wouldn't play the whole game through again. I am waiting for the next game to come out.

        There are some visualization "mini-games" that you can do with another person but I haven't tried that yet.
  • Many years ago, I stumbled onto an unattended demo at Fry's. It was a very simple device that seem to measure some simple biological parameter (skin resistance?) when you put your hand on a metal plate. I don't recall all the things it was supposed to be good for, but the function they were demoing was very suprising: a simple steering control. You looked at the monitor, which was running a downhill skiing sim, and thought about the direction you wanted to go. It actually worked!

    I was in a hurry, and left

  • If somebody combined the biofeedback from this game with Rez... [gamegirladvance.com]

    Now that would make for some interesting gaming. ^.^

    • What, the point of the game is staying alive for as long as possible, and the game ends when you orgasm?

      Interesting? Maybe, but I was thinking more 'adult gaming'.

  • Mega64 (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Foo2rama ( 755806 ) on Wednesday January 05, 2005 @02:00AM (#11261383) Homepage Journal
    http://www.mega64.com/ I think it is out and being secreatly beat tested...

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