[games_access] Interesting News Bit

[AudioGames.net]

Yeah, it's quite interesting. Barrie posted this news on 
Game-Accessibility.com about two weeks ago already and I put up a direct 
link to the footage in the video section back then:

http://www.game-accessibility.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=159
http://www.game-accessibility.com/index.php?pagefile=papers#multimedia 
(first link)

Greets,

Richard


----- Original Message ----- 
From: <hinn at uiuc.edu>
To: "IGDA Games Accessibility SIG Mailing List" <games_access at igda.org>
Sent: Friday, October 27, 2006 2:43 AM
Subject: [games_access] Interesting News Bit


> This just in from the AP -- sounds like we need to check out these 
> researchers at Wash U and invite them to the SIG! :)
>
> - Michelle
>
> Scientists Study Brain Using Video Game
>
> - - - - - - - - - - - -
>
> By JEFF DOUGLAS Associated Press Writer
>
> October 26,2006 | ST. LOUIS -- The teenager jukes missiles and blasts 
> aliens in the video game. But it's his brain, not his thumbs, doing all 
> the work. The 14-year-old, part of a study at Washington University, 
> played the old-school video game "Space Invaders" by simply using his 
> brain as a controller.
>
> Researchers hope the study ultimately leads to development of more 
> advanced devices that use brain commands to control things such as 
> artificial limbs and wheelchairs.
>
> "My real motivation for this is helping people with disabilities," said 
> Dr. Eric Leuthardt, an assistant professor of neurosurgery at the 
> university's School of Medicine. "We chose to do a video game because we 
> knew a teenage patient would be into it."
>
> The teen, who did not want his name used, suffers from severe epilepsy and 
> was experiencing daily seizures. Neurosurgeons had to remove a piece of 
> his skull to treat a small part of the brain causing the seizures.
>
> Researchers knew that with the brain exposed for the operation, they had a 
> rare opportunity to use it for a study of ultrahigh brain frequencies. 
> Leuthardt invited the teen to participate, and he agreed. The study is the 
> first of its kind on an adolescent, Leuthardt said.
>
> The teen was hospitalized to wait for a seizure to happen so doctors could 
> locate the problem and treat it.
>
> Wires attached to the surface of the teen's brain sent electric signals to 
> a computer to help them locate what part of the brain was causing the 
> seizures and remove it.
>
> Using those same wires, the teen was ready to try "Space Invaders," an 
> early video game in which the player tries to shoot down invading aliens 
> amid a counterattack.
>
> At first, the teen tapped his right hand to move his spacecraft one way, 
> and moved his tongue to move it another. Eventually, he was able to make 
> those movements on the video screen simply by using his brain. The "Space 
> Invaders" laser cannon fired continuously.
>
> Within hours, the teen shot his way to the third level of the game.
>
> "The real breakthrough with this project is the focus on higher 
> frequencies of the brain. That's where the secrets are," said Daniel 
> Moran, an assistant professor of biomedical engineering also involved in 
> the multidiscipline study.
>
> Leuthardt said it was too early tell, but it appeared the teenager could 
> master commands more quickly than adults.
>
> Washington University did similar experiments in 2004 with adults. In that 
> experiment, participants used only their brains to control a game similar 
> to the old arcade game "Pong."
>
> The study was exciting news for John Donoghue, co-founder of Cyberkinetics 
> Neurotechnology Systems. His Foxborough, Mass.-based company researches 
> alternative ways for the brain to communicate to the outside world using 
> devices that translate the brain's electric activity.
>
> Cyberkinetics was among the first to prove that a quadriplegic can drive a 
> wheelchair with his thoughts and a mute person can communicate sentences 
> on a computer without saying a word.
>
> "The idea of replacing missing biological connections with a physical 
> bridge will be moving very fast in the coming years with more research 
> like this," Donoghue said.
> .......................................
> these are mediocre times and people are
> losing hope. it's hard for many people
> to believe that there are extraordinary
> things inside themselves, as well as
> others. i hope you can keep an open
> mind.
> -- "unbreakable"
> .......................................
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