A Game Controller That Senses Emotions
Gaming is at its best when it is interactive, involves more than one person and is emotionally engaging for the players as well. These elements take virtual gaming to a whole new level. A group of engineers from Stanford University has developed a gaming device that comprehends what you are feeling and adjusts itself according to your emotions.
Whatever emotional state you are in is detected from your hands through the game controller. These controllers have been customarily made with the installment of 3D sensors that sense your heart rate, pulse rate and your respiratory rate. This way, in accordance with your emotional state, the sensors detect and then in turn help control the game for you. For once, your emotions control you. By detecting this, the game sensors allow you to play in a more interactive mode and ensure that you are completely engaged with the game and the other players. This is done so by identifying their emotional states in a likewise manner.
The engineers from Stanford University teamed up with Texas Instruments and built a gaming technology that can analyze the psychological state of its players and modify the game according to user’s emotions. The research was conducted in the lab of an electrical engineering professor, Gregory Kovacs. The preliminary model used is a modified Xbox 360 controller, altered to include 3D-printed plastic sensors that can determine pulse, heart and respiratory rates.
According to Corey McCall, leader of the game controller project, the controller can sense when the player is starting to get bored and so to spice things up up, it can introduce more zombies into the level. Moreover, the device can also be used to control the games for kids. If they are getting addicted to the game, the controller can tone it down a notch and remind them that it’s time for a healthy break.
The device has got a positive feedback from its users so far. If it keeps up, McCall’s invention can bring a great change in the gaming industry leading to development of more games that can sense and react according to your emotional state.
A Game Controller that Can Read Players’ Emotions
For more information on the Emotion Sensor Game Controller, please visit:
http://motherboard.vice.com/read/the-video-game-controller-that-can-read-your-emotions
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2456191,00.asp
http://www.tomsguide.com/us/game-controller-reads-emotions,news-18576.html
