Better Health Through Play
Posted: Wed Sep 15, 2004 9:15 am
Dr. James Rosser is training surgeons, using a GameCube. Dr. Brenda Wiederhold is treating claustrophobics with a modified version of Unreal Tournament. And Doug Whatley, a commercial PC game developer, is now designing a game for nurses and doctors to train them in coping with emergency room catastrophes.
For decades, video games have been used for more than just play. Classroom-based games have taught kids how to do long division and where to find state capitals; Pentagon-funded shoot'em-ups have helped convince thousands of young people to join the Army. Now, after more than a decade of stop-and-start experimentation, it's about to be health care's turn, some researchers believe. And that's why Whatley, Rosser, Wiederhold and more than 100 doctors, educators, therapists and game makers are gathering in Madison, Wisconsin, this week for a first-ever Games for Health conference.
http://www.wired.com/news/medtech/0,128 ... _tophead_1
For decades, video games have been used for more than just play. Classroom-based games have taught kids how to do long division and where to find state capitals; Pentagon-funded shoot'em-ups have helped convince thousands of young people to join the Army. Now, after more than a decade of stop-and-start experimentation, it's about to be health care's turn, some researchers believe. And that's why Whatley, Rosser, Wiederhold and more than 100 doctors, educators, therapists and game makers are gathering in Madison, Wisconsin, this week for a first-ever Games for Health conference.
http://www.wired.com/news/medtech/0,128 ... _tophead_1