Sunday 20 June 2010

Biometrics in games?

Ubisoft has recently revealed Innergy, a new peripheral that monitors body readings and aims to lower stress. Mentioned in Ubisoft’s E3 press conference, is the Innergy Sensor, a biofeedback tool capable of measuring heart rate variability, blood flow and pulse.

The game associated with the sensor guides players through a sequence of scenarios that help identify sources of stress. It then proceeds to offer a range of breathing exercises designed to relieve this stress, while at the same time providing an illustrated diary so that progress is monitored.

Biometrics in the form of eye-tracking and BCIs have been around in games for a while now but efforts such as this one or Nintendo's Vitality Sensor seem to further up the ante (the latter is pictured above). All in all this creates many new exciting opportunities for conducting usability studies in the field.

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