This is a pretty cool development for gaming/gamers. | |
What difficulity? | |
So this is being funded by the miltary? Either they're funding research into prosthetics to improve the lives of young soldiers returning from combat sans limbs. This is an unusually good use for games, long may it continue. | |
That's fucking awesome. If they are able to perfect this technology I'd totally hack off one of my flesh arms and have it replaced with a robot arm. | |
CYBERNETICS! Now just tell me they played "Still Alive" during the testing | |
Extra Punctuation
MovieBob: Intermission
Experienced Points
First Person
Exploding Barrels
Special Attack
Miracle of Sound: Encore
Loading Time
Backchat
Drinking Games
Escape to the Movies
Escapecraft
Escapist News Wrap - Premium
Escapist Podcast
Feed Dump
GinxTV
Jimquisition
LoadingReadyRun
Mahalo
Meatbag and Co
Media Sandwich
Miracle of Sound
No Right Answer
Pro-Gamer Gauntlet
Reviews
Space Janitors
Tales from the Table
The Big Picture
The Escapist Presents
The Retro Show
Trailers
Unskippable
Zero Punctuation
Max Payne 3 Review
Company of Heroes 2
XCOM Enemy Unknown
Black Ops 2
Diablo 3 Review
TERA Review
Firefall Beta Preview
Starhawk Review
Critical Miss
Name Game
Air Guitar Hero Helps Amputees Rock
A tweaked version of the music game is providing a big boost in prosthetic research.
Though Wiihabilitation continues to be popular among doctors seeking to help patients through physical therapy, researchers at John Hopkins University have cranked the volume on the concept to 11. By modifying the controller for Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock to interface with cutting edge prosthetic technology, they've made it possible for amputees to shred their way through the game with surprising accuracy.
The research is part of a project being sponsored by the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, and the true goal is not to nail a high score in the music game. Rather, the aim is to eventually perfect an extremely realistic prosthetic limb that mimics a real arm - including finger movement. Several prototypes have already been developed thorough the project.
Calibrating the mechanical limbs to correctly recognize and respond properly to electrical signals in an amputee's residual muscles is an exhausting and draining process. By using Guitar Hero, the researchers are able to speed up the tedious calibration process and make it more fun for volunteers. The highest recorded score among the experiment subjects was 70 percent; it's very impressive, considering the circumstances. This is an awesome idea, and a great example of how gaming can be used for good.
Permalink