Basics of the contest [from the page]:

The Wii Mommies are looking for individuals who are unfamiliar with the Nintendo Wii and the Wii Fit Plus to participate in our Citizen Journalist Program to analyze specific elements of the Wii Fit Plus and submit weekly reports on their findings over a period of three weeks. You do not have to be a parent or female to apply, all are welcome.

Here at healthGAMERS, we’re super excited to see the results of the program and the feedback that the various citizen journalists come up with in their reports. The purpose of this health games movement is to make sure people get real experiences and this is a perfect way to get that done. The more people who realize that there are healthy and fun activities out there, the more we can continue spreading the word.

Applications close on March 5th so head on over there and apply if you’re interested! Also don’t forget to follow Wii Mommies on Twitter.

Introducing full-sized bike to Wii.

Cyberbike is a full-sized stationary “home- bike” complete with back pedaling and brake capabilities. I was unable to find any specs on the peripheral’s weight and height, but as you can see from the official Cyberbike Trailer, it’s a pretty large accessory. [There is a video that cannot be displayed in this feed. Visit the blog entry to see the video.] Unlike many BigBen Interactive products, the Cyberbike also comes with a Wii game title of the same name.  The Cyberbike game includes 18 tracks, personalized vehicles and characters, 3 game modes and varying levels of difficulty.  I found the story mode plot line a little unexpected.  Here is a little summary of what to expect:

Drive, along with your family, the most improbable vehicles from planet Cyclo. Use your body and mind, as an eco-citizen, to finally rid this world of the many sources of pollution that are literally suffocating it. Collect the elements that are polluting planet Cyclo either on the ground, in the air or under water, using the vehicles provided for this purpose.

Bikes not your thing?

If Cyberbike doesn’t suit your fancy, why not try Wii Fit look-alike My Body Coach with two 500g dumbells (that’s 1.1 lbs) for your Wiimotes.  Already have a Wii Fit?  You can also purchase BigBen Interactive’s famous Wii Fit Fitness Premium Pack which comes with a storage case, silicon cover and built-in battery compartment for your Wii Balance Board, floor mat, belt with a pocket for Wiimote, two wrist hands and a pedometer.  What else could you ask for?

Battle the Sperminator.

Adventures in Sex City is an online health game designed to teach teens about birth control, relationships, sexually transmitted infections (STIs), pregnancy, and general sexual health.  Teens must go up against Sperminator, a former superhero who’s infected by a STI and doesn’t seek treatment.  Please note this game is for teens and adults only.  The artwork is definitely not for little kids.

In the dark of the night, Sex City is in a panic because of the terrible Sperminator whose sole mission is to infect all citizens with various sexually transmitted infections.  Who do you call?  The Sex Squad!  An elite team of superheroes dedicated to keeping the citizens of Sex city safe from STIs.  It’s up to you to help the Sex Squad stop the Sperminator and save Sex City.

The goal of the game is to answer a series of sex-based questions using one of the Sex Squad super heroes.  Teens can go up against the sinister Sperminator using one of four characters:

1. Wonder Vag – a pro-abstinence virgin
2. Willy The Kid – a short guy that joined the squad to prove size doesn’t matter
3. Power Pap – a sexually active girl that’s already had a close encounter with a STI
4. Captain Condom – a scientist whose condom-perfecting experiment went awry resulting in his half man half condom appearance.

Get a trivia question correct and you can deflect the Sperminator’s infected  sperm with your rubber condom shield.  Get it wrong and be prepared to be shot by the Sperminator’s sexual projectile arms. You won’t find the game mechanic revolutionary, but I found the comic book style to be compelling, the characters amusing, and the questions informative.

And if that doesn’t amuse you…

If you need a really good laugh, may I suggest checking out some of the MLHU’s collection of condom commercials.  This is definitely better than reading a pamphlet.  Congratulations to MLHU for their creative efforts to deliver sexual health information to teens!

But that’s not all.  Microsoft hopes to get its Xbox 360 in on the game as well (pun intended).  According to a recent article by CNET,  Microsoft hopes to take advantage of the Xbox’s low price by having hospitals use it in place of their typical feed and filter electronic medical records equipment.  This information came straight from Microsoft Senior Researcher Desney Tan who spoke about plans to expand the HealthVault system at the Microsoft forum on healthcare technology in Beijing.

Xbox units could also be used to let patients play games or go online, possibly by body gestures enabled by Microsoft’s upcoming Project Natal control system. Microsoft Research is also developing applications that can plug into services such as HealthVault to make it easier for users to access their health records. One such project, MyLife for Windows Mobile phones, is using built-in devices such as cameras, accelerometers, and microphones in the hopes of enabling users to log various health readings, from blood pressure to body weight, and monitor activities from exercising to eating.

Maybe one day we will all be playing on Xbox 360s at the doctor’s office instead of filling out paper-based forms with a clipboard. You can stay on top of the latest at HealthVault and its medical partners by visiting their news section.  If you’ve used HealthVault or have a provider that does we’d love to hear your thoughts!

A stroke leaves you with numbness and lack of movement on one side of your body – your face, arm and/or leg become weak and you lose control over them. The recovery process is slow and tedious, and if the blood flow to the affected area of your brain is restored before permanent damage is done, your rehabilitation program determines how fast you return to normalcy. To this end, ARM (Assessment, Rehabilitation, Movement), an initiative set up by a group of therapists, doctors, engineers and psychologists at the University of Southampton proves to be a fun rehab tool for those who are recovering from a stroke.

It is meant to help them regain movement of their arm and control it better through a technique known as Iterative Learning Control, something that was earlier used only in the manufacture and research of industrial robots. In theory, the process is the same – you use iterative learning to teach the limb how to move. In the robots, it is achieved using artificial intelligence; for humans recovering from a stroke, it is a process of teaching the brain movements that are innate, but which it has forgotten because of the illness.

In layman’s terms, gaming technology is being used to retrain arm and hand functions that have been diminished or paralyzed because of the brain damage caused by a stroke. The initiative has borne fruit thanks to the efforts of the teams at the University’s School of Electronics and Computer Science and the School of Health Sciences, both of which combined to come up with this ingenious method for stroke rehabilitation.ARM is even more significant because it has provided researchers with a way to understand how the brain recovers after a stroke and because it allows patients to see how they are progressing, monitor their progress, and try to improve their progress as the days go by. A grant of £2M from the National Institute for Health Research will allow this technology to be taken out of the lab and integrated into the mainstream healthcare practice so that the hundreds of thousands of people who suffer from a stroke every year can recover in a fun and positive way.

About the Author

Shannon Wills is a freelance writer whose current focus is on the topic of Physical Therapist Assistant Schools, a site dedicated to helping students find physical therapy assistant programs and compare physical therapy assistant school options.  Shannon covers a variety of health beats including diabetes management, anti-aging and healthy eating.  She welcomes your comments at her email id : shannonwills23@gmail.com.

The American Council on Exercise (ACE) is a 25-year-old nonprofit dedicated to promoting the benefits of physical activity and protecting consumers against unsafe and ineffective health and fitness products, programs and trends.  They have done extensive research on exercise regiments from pilates to dumbbells.  The latest on their research agenda?  Exergames, including dance pads and the Wii Fit.  Their research question: Does the Wii really help people get fit?

The study sample.

In 2008, the ACE teamed up with the University of Wisconsin to test the potential fitness benefits of Wii Sports.  Here are the details of the study:

• Sample size: 8 men and 8 women, ages 20 to 29 years old
• Baseline: recorded through standardized exercise test with a treadmill, tracking heart rate and maximal oxygen uptake; all subjects were given time to practice with the Wii prior to the study

In 2009, the ACE and University of Wisconsin team reunited to test the potential fitness benefits of Wii Fit:

• Sample size: 8 men and 8 women, ages 20 to 24 years old
• Baseline: same as 2008 study

The measurements.

2008 Wii Sports:

• Subjects were told to mimic the onscreen action as closely as possible (ex: in Wii Tennis, subjects had to swing their arms to hit the virtual ball versus just flick the wrist).
• Each subject played a total of 5 games for 10 minutes each with 10 minutes of rest between each game.
• Researchers recorded heart rate, oxygen uptake, and perceived exertion.  Calories burned were also calculated.

2009 Wii Fit:

• Subjects played 6 of the most aerobically challenging activities featured on the Wii Fit for 6 minutes each.
• Researchers recorded heart rate, oxygen uptake, and perceived exertion.  Calories burned were also calculated.

The results.

All Wii Sports games resulted in calories burned, some more than others.

• Wii Sports Golf – 3.1 calories burned per minute
• Wii Sports Bowling – 3.9 calories burned per minute
• Wii Sports Baseball – 4.5 calories burned per minute
• Wii Sports Tennis – 5.3 calories burned per minute
• Wii Sports Boxing – 7.2 calories burned per minute

All Wii Fit games resulted in calories burned, however, NONE were sufficient enough to maintain or improve cardiorespiratory endurance as defined by the American College of Sports Medicine.

• Wii Fit Free Step – 3.3 calories burned per minute
• Wii Fit Advanced Step – 3.6 calories burned per minute
• Wii Fit Super Hula Hoop – 3.7 calories burned per minute
• Wii Fit Rhythm Boxing – 3.8 calories burned per minute
• Wii Fit Free Run – 5.5 calories burned per minute
• Wii Fit Island Run – 5.5 calories burned per minute

The conclusion.

The bottom line message here is that playing Wii Sports or Wii Fit is better than just sitting at home watching TV.  If you want a workout, try Wii Boxing or Wii Tennis. Wii Fit produced underwhelming results and much less caloric burn.  Why?  Dr. John Porcari, lead scientist both studies feels that Wii Fit constrains players to the balance board.  There is much less jumping around than with Wii Sports.

Getting the most out of your Wii.

According to Dr. Porcari, the key to a good workout with Wii Sports is mimicing the real movements as closely as possible.  No wrist flicking allowed!  Wii Fit is a great way to have some fun while burning calories as well as track your fitness progress such as BMI.  However, if you want to actually stay fit, you need to pair it with something more traditional like a bike or treadmill workout.

We just heard from Ben Sawyer that the Games for Health Project will be hosting a free, informative half-day session in New York City!  This is an amazing opportunity for anyone interested in advancing the role of videogames in health and healthcare or is just curious about the field.  If you want to show off your work, presenters are still needed so shoot Ben an email bsawyer[at]dmill[dot]com.  If you want to attend the event, simply RSVP to Beth Bryant at bbryant[at]dmill[dot]com.

The details.

• Date: January 26, 2010
• Time: 9:00 am – 1:00 pm
• Location: Hunter College Brookdale Campus, Room @323, 425 E 25th Street, NY, New York
• Cost: FREE
• RSVP: RSVP is REQUIRED to Beth Bryant bbryant[at]dmill[dot]com
• Topics:
  • Anti-smoking games
  • Wii games for burn patient rehab
  • Nutrition and healthy eating projects
• Other great stuff:
  • Networking opportunities with researchers, game developers and students
  • Get exclusive discounts to other events including the Games for Health Conference & Games Beyond Entertainment Week

Your to-do list.

• RSVP is required for this event so email Beth Bryant is required bbryant[at]dmill[dot]com if you plan to attend.
• Speakers are still needed so email Ben Sawyer if you wish to show off your work bsawyer[at]dmill[dot]com.

This event is made possible by support from the Robert Wood Johnson Pioneer Portfolio and the Hunter College Department of Physical Therapy.  View the official flyer for more information!

A Humana press release this morning revealed the three winners of the InsertCoin Game Idea Competition which began last summer.  The goal of the competition was to establish what gamers are looking for in health games and ultimately create better health games for consumers.  Prizes of $5K, $3K and $2K were given to first, second and third place winners respectively.

And the winners are…

Many entered, but only three ideas made the cut.  Here are the lucky winners:

1. Shelly Warmuth of Green Bay, Wisconsin for her idea “Dance Class” where players are taught to dance by virtual dance instructor avatars.
2. John Green of Brooklyn, New York for his idea “Camp Awesome,” a summer camp simulator where players get the full action-packed experience of a camp.
3. Kevin Ray for his idea “Jungle Mayhem,” an activity and social based game.

Everyone at healthGAMERS sends a huge “Congratulations!” to the three winners for their accomplishments.  We look forward to seeing these games produced.  For more information, see the official Humana Games for Health InsertCoin press release.

When I first started healthGAMERS we were in the process of creating a new online health game based on the food pyramid.  At that time, I was researching what was out there.  My conclusion: a call for better Food Pyramid games.  Someone at the USDA must have been reading because the latest news buzzing in the public health sector is the announcement of the USDA Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services (FNCS) Innovations for Healthy Kids Challenge.

According to their latest news release, the USDA is challenging the public to create new web-based learning applications, such as health games, to reach more tweens (kids ages 9-12).  The challenge is designed to highlight the Obama Administration’s commitment to combating childhood obesity and improving the national health of America’s youth.  They are providing open source federal datasets on Data.gov and MyPyramid.gov for those that wish to enter.  Access to this data is great in itself!

Contest details.

• Who can apply? Entrepreneurs, software developers, and students who are U.S. citizens and not current USDA or White House employees.
• Who is the target audience? Kids 9-12 years old, aka “tweens”
• What kind of technology is required? Platform information will be posted soon, but entries are to be fully developed web-based games.  All data in the games must from be the USDA Nutrition Dataset and/or the Source Code.
• When is the deadline? Submissions will be accepted in spring 2010.  Further details are to follow.
• What are the prizes? Four prizes will be awarded including Gold ($3,000), Silver ($2,000), Bronze ($1,000) and Popular Choice $2,ooo).
• How are winners decided? All entries will be judged by a panel of public and private sector nutrition and gaming experts based on the following criteria: potential impact on target audience (40%), quality/accuracy/content of messages (20%), creativity/originality (20%) and potential for further development/use (20%).

For further contest information see the USDA Innovations for Healthy Kids Challenge page or sign up for email updates.

As a matter of fact, Interaction Healthcare, a French Health communication agency has recently announced it will promote and distribute Pulse ! the multi-million dollar cutting edge 3D medical and clinical training professional healthgame developed by Texas A&M University and Breakawaygames.com. This French agency was known for its on-line game “Don’t kid with their eyes” dedicated to vision for the young public and developed with the eye-glass world leader Essilor. Europe is also developing complementary solutions like “Patient Rescue” a UK National Health System supported game or the Spanish Medical Simulator.

North Europe countries have also entered in the game field like in Sweden where the University of Skövde has co-developed Elinor, a game based tool for rehabilitation of stroke patients. Interestingly, this University has launched this year the first European Master Degree in Serious games.

At the European Community level, some effort has been put on ehealth. However, there are few projects dedicated to health games. It is interesting to point out this multi-national initiative eldergames.org where experts from Spain, UK and Norway collaborate to create a video play platform connected to internet to monitor cognitive health and welfare in the growing elder population.

I believe 2010 will be an interesting year as we should have a lot of new free or commercial health games coming to market and could be regarded as a critical year for defining trends either in Europe or US.