Face (The) Music Exercise + WIBC 1 & 2

Face Music @ Yahoo! Video

Watching this little experiment which I can only explain as cool on many levels, I can't help but be excited for our emerging field of exergames and egames. Undoubtedly, with the dropping costs of all sensor technologies (apperently the costs of the triaxial accelerometer in Wii Motes is around $1 - when bought in massive quantities) more projects like this facially detected music game/activity will surface. The concept for this facial game is actually pretty close to the Nintendo's tona No DS Kao Training - AKA Face Training DS. The main difference is the guy developed code to interface with the EMG sensors placed on his face and then mapped them to specific sounds. Think of it as creating or using unique sounds on your keyboard and then designating a key to play that sound. The only difference being the sensor must be activated (muscle movement) to work.

WIBC 1 (Wouldn't It Be Cool) - Exergame Idea 1: Wouldn't it be cool to see an interface that is EMG activated for the Music Catch game I posted earlier. An interface of this type would be a great application of technology for individuals with spinal cord injuries and or quadriplegics. Imagine being able to move characters or perform actions while using facial gesturing. Wow, now that Tom Clancy's EndWar game (Ubisoft) is released, imagine giving the verbal commands to send troops into battle then as the action begins using the "InterFace" (pardon the pun) to launch weapons and move. Check out after the jump for more videos of Face Training.



WIBC 2 -Exergame Idea 2: I can foresee a whole body interface that may even be related to muscle activation and fiber recruitment. In fact there are companies developing newer interfaces beyond the typical stepping and/ including IA Labs which is developing near isometric contraction sensors on new game peripherals (Wii Sqweeze) for different platforms and software.