When her 11-year-old son was diagnosed with attention deficit disorder last year, Janet Herlihey warmed up to an unthinkable solution for his problem: video games.
What sold her on games, instead of medication, was NASA technology that could help "tune" her child's brain to focus and relax while playing fairly innocuous, off-the-shelf games like "Hatchet and Clank" on Sony's Playstation 2.
The system, called Smart BrainGames, essentially monitors her son's brain waves through the use of sensors in a helmet while he plays a game. A box that can be hooked up to PS2 then makes actions in the game change. The more he concentrates, for example, the faster a car will go in a racing game.
The BrainGames technology was originally created at NASA to improve pilots' attention while flying. Cyberlearning Technologies, based in San Diego, obtained an exclusive license to the technology in 2002, and followed it up a year later by creating the patented overall learning system.
BrainGames includes a helmet with three sensors that can be easily attached to places on the head to measure brain waves. The data feeds into a so-called smart box that is hooked up to the PS2 and hangs around the player's neck. The smart box is a modified game controller that collects a real-time signal from the brain, or a snapshot of brain activity every 30 seconds. The data is then processed with a program that affects the game.
One racing game, called "Burnout," is modulated for speed. If the child is operating at peak performance and attention, the car will reach 100 mph, but if he or she is tired or his or her attention wanes, the speed might fall to 70 mph even though the game controls are pressed with the same exertion. The only way the child can get the car to go faster is to focus.
The system also measures stress. If a child's stress level goes too high, it will trigger a warning that vibrates the controller or disconnects the steering function. That way, it teaches concentration without making the child overly stressed.
"They feel that they are in the seat in order to affect the game, versus just pushing a button. They're now using their physiology. It's fully immersive and places the individual in the game," said Domenic Greco, CEO of Cyberlearning Technologies.
The company began selling its system, which costs $550, directly from its Web site in April, and between 1,200 and 1,300 families are using it. In 2004, the company partnered with pediatricians and psychologists to use the software with children diagnosed with ADD.
The Cyberlearning system offers a notable counterpoint to the common perception of video games as detrimental to children. The violent imagery of many highly publicized video games is routinely decried, with or without the backing of research, as fostering aggressive behavior, and a number of states have either enacted laws banning violent games or are contemplating doing so.
Video games are a far cry from where this technology got its start. NASA conducted research in the late 1990s measuring the attention and patience of pilots. Researchers found that pilots were less engaged in planes with more automation in the cockpit, and consequently, the pilots were not as quick to react in an emergency. So the scientists created a "closed loop" design to create an ideal mix of technology and human functions and maintain the pilot's focus.
Though the workings of the NASA technology are still largely a mystery to Herlihey, she does know that after almost a year, her son is calmer, more focused and a better reader.
"His memory improved. His ability to stick with a task improved. Something that used to take him 45 minutes to do because his attention would wander now takes him 15 minutes," said Herlihey. Her son, who she wouldn't name, is the oldest of several children, and one of his siblings who's prone to hyperactivity has also shown improvement after playing the game.
Herlihey's family is living on the cutting edge in the use of educational or learning games. The San Diego-based Virtual Reality Medical Center, for example, has been using games and virtual environments as a tool to treat phobias, such as the fear of flying. Others have found a niche in games for relaxation and meditation, such as The Journey to Wild Devine, which combines biofeedback techniques to measure brain waves and monitor muscle tension during the game.
"There's an increasing interest in it, but I wouldn't say the game industry is dropping what they're doing. It's still largely a subgenre," said Ian Bogost, a professor at Georgia Tech, who runs a game-focused site called Watercooler Games.
Don't count on this market exploding. "The commercial game industry is still reeling from the educational market of the '70s and '80s. Not a lot of it did well from sales or learning value," said Bogost.
http://news.com.com/Attention+deficit+disorder+Try+video+games/2100-1043_3-5940181.html?tag=nefd.top
What sold her on games, instead of medication, was NASA technology that could help "tune" her child's brain to focus and relax while playing fairly innocuous, off-the-shelf games like "Hatchet and Clank" on Sony's Playstation 2.
The system, called Smart BrainGames, essentially monitors her son's brain waves through the use of sensors in a helmet while he plays a game. A box that can be hooked up to PS2 then makes actions in the game change. The more he concentrates, for example, the faster a car will go in a racing game.
The BrainGames technology was originally created at NASA to improve pilots' attention while flying. Cyberlearning Technologies, based in San Diego, obtained an exclusive license to the technology in 2002, and followed it up a year later by creating the patented overall learning system.
BrainGames includes a helmet with three sensors that can be easily attached to places on the head to measure brain waves. The data feeds into a so-called smart box that is hooked up to the PS2 and hangs around the player's neck. The smart box is a modified game controller that collects a real-time signal from the brain, or a snapshot of brain activity every 30 seconds. The data is then processed with a program that affects the game.
One racing game, called "Burnout," is modulated for speed. If the child is operating at peak performance and attention, the car will reach 100 mph, but if he or she is tired or his or her attention wanes, the speed might fall to 70 mph even though the game controls are pressed with the same exertion. The only way the child can get the car to go faster is to focus.
The system also measures stress. If a child's stress level goes too high, it will trigger a warning that vibrates the controller or disconnects the steering function. That way, it teaches concentration without making the child overly stressed.
"They feel that they are in the seat in order to affect the game, versus just pushing a button. They're now using their physiology. It's fully immersive and places the individual in the game," said Domenic Greco, CEO of Cyberlearning Technologies.
The company began selling its system, which costs $550, directly from its Web site in April, and between 1,200 and 1,300 families are using it. In 2004, the company partnered with pediatricians and psychologists to use the software with children diagnosed with ADD.
The Cyberlearning system offers a notable counterpoint to the common perception of video games as detrimental to children. The violent imagery of many highly publicized video games is routinely decried, with or without the backing of research, as fostering aggressive behavior, and a number of states have either enacted laws banning violent games or are contemplating doing so.
Video games are a far cry from where this technology got its start. NASA conducted research in the late 1990s measuring the attention and patience of pilots. Researchers found that pilots were less engaged in planes with more automation in the cockpit, and consequently, the pilots were not as quick to react in an emergency. So the scientists created a "closed loop" design to create an ideal mix of technology and human functions and maintain the pilot's focus.
Though the workings of the NASA technology are still largely a mystery to Herlihey, she does know that after almost a year, her son is calmer, more focused and a better reader.
"His memory improved. His ability to stick with a task improved. Something that used to take him 45 minutes to do because his attention would wander now takes him 15 minutes," said Herlihey. Her son, who she wouldn't name, is the oldest of several children, and one of his siblings who's prone to hyperactivity has also shown improvement after playing the game.
Herlihey's family is living on the cutting edge in the use of educational or learning games. The San Diego-based Virtual Reality Medical Center, for example, has been using games and virtual environments as a tool to treat phobias, such as the fear of flying. Others have found a niche in games for relaxation and meditation, such as The Journey to Wild Devine, which combines biofeedback techniques to measure brain waves and monitor muscle tension during the game.
"There's an increasing interest in it, but I wouldn't say the game industry is dropping what they're doing. It's still largely a subgenre," said Ian Bogost, a professor at Georgia Tech, who runs a game-focused site called Watercooler Games.
Don't count on this market exploding. "The commercial game industry is still reeling from the educational market of the '70s and '80s. Not a lot of it did well from sales or learning value," said Bogost.
http://news.com.com/Attention+deficit+disorder+Try+video+games/2100-1043_3-5940181.html?tag=nefd.top
