The fourth annual Games for Health Conference will be showcasing the expanding role of video games in the Health profession. Video game technology is being applied in the field for rehabilitation, training and to encourage exercise.
Some highlights of the conference will be familiar to most gamers. A new version of Activision’s Guitar Hero is being introduced, which will be used in
the rehabilitation of arm amputees. The results of studies based on the “Corrupted Blood Syndrome” form Blizzard’s World of Warcraft are also being presented.
Attendees will have the chance to play training games like 3DiTeams and the K.I.C.K. (Kid’s Interactive Creation Kiosk). 3DiTeams offers emergency health care training to medical professionals in virtual worlds. The full press release follows the break.
Emerging Developments Outlined As Games for Health Conference Gets Underway; Health-Oriented Innovations – Such as Guitar Hero Modified for Arm Amputee Rehab - Gaining Ground
BALTIMORE and WASHINGTON, May 8 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Four major emerging trends — exergaming kicks into high gear, video games go to rehab and therapy, major health care providers arrive on the scene, and the rise of video games for first responders and medical professionals – were highlighted today during a telenews event conducted by organizers of the Games for Health national conference (http://www.gamesforhealth.org) taking place May 8-9, 2008 at the Baltimore Convention Center.
Drawing on 60 planned presentations by 75 speakers, Games for Health conference highlights trends including: Video games go to rehab and therapy. In a Games for Health conference highlight, a version of the popular video game Guitar Hero will be unveiled that is designed to aid arm amputee rehabilitation … Red Hill Studios will present its findings about the use of PDWii to aid balance and mobility in Parkinson’s patients. PDWii is currently being developed by Red Hill Studios and the UCSF School of Nursing, with
funding by the NIH. Quantifiable results are being used to track patient progress and are being integrated into the patient’s overall regime. Results will be used to benefit further innovations in the field of games for health … For younger patients, there is Ditto, a “multi-modal distraction device” designed to control pain and stress among patients undergoing burn and orthopedic medical procedures. Exergaming kicks into high gear. One Games For Health panel will explore how exergaming in gyms and other settings can be used to combine physical activity and fun. Another presentation will focus on “Zyked” – a set of online and mobile services designed to be for working out what Xbox Live! is for videogames. Zyked’s creator Tom Soderlund will present the basics behind Zyked and report on how the first batch of user tests are going. Soderlund will also present how Zyked intends to work with a multitude of portable devices including digital music players, digital athletic gear and mobile phone platforms. Dr. Alasdair Thin of Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, Scotland, will outline in “Go for the Burn: Designing Body-Movement Controlled Video Games to
Maximise Energy Expenditure” his thoughts about how to future exergame design should work to ensure maximum health benefits. Major health care providers arrive on the scene. For the first time ever, a major U.S. health care insurance company, Humana, is a primary sponsor of the Games for Health conference. The sponsorship reflects the medical community’s increasing interest in the potential of games.
Representatives from several of the largest health insurance plan providers in the United States will convene in a plenary session at the conference to detail the game-related efforts they’ve launched to date and their view about what is needed for the future to use games and games technology to solve critical problems in health they and others are facing … Anoth
