Iwata: Vitality Sensor more than a simple pulsmeter

[Xander]

Many of us have been skeptical about the unveiling of the Wii Vitality sensor, wondering just how Nintendo is going to use our pulse to make a fun an interesting game. Well, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata released a statement about the devise:

Quote: “If Wii Vitality Sensor is simply a pulsimeter, we did not need such a grandiose announcement. It is a tool to analyze various biological signals by scanning the pulse, in order to make something invisible visible. The point with that is you can figure out your current conditions. I believe many of you have figured out with “Wii Fit”, by weighing yourself every day you could figure out how the weight would change according to what you had done. Personally I have figured out how dining-out exactly affects my weights. And there are still more invisible factors, which Wii Vitality Sensor can make into something visible, by putting your finger on that every day. I have to refrain from disclosing too much to keep the surprises of announcement; but please note that Wii Vitality Sensor is not a simple pulsimeter. I have a strong feeling something fun will appear around this gadget, and am planning to put it as one of the next year’s main topics.”

source

It's definitely something that is going to be interesting. I like the idea of emotional gaming, of making something invisible, visible and tactile, and I think many games could benefit from it.

[jh5]

sounds cool

[Zwei]

It is interesting how NINTENDO is doing this. Itll be handy for my parents cause they do use the wii fit alot and having this will help out a lil if they ever want to check their pulse, heart rate, etc.

Kinda nice.

[Xander]

Originally Posted by Zwei It is interesting how NINTENDO is doing this. Itll be handy for my parents cause they do use the wii fit alot and having this will help out a lil if they ever want to check their pulse, heart rate, etc. Kinda nice.

Well not just that, but according to Iwata it can do more than that.

Your pulse gives off more than just heart rate, and even heart rate can tell a whole lot what's going inside your head at the moment. Emotional gaming is definitely going to be a big thing if the industry takes this seriously enough.

[leezy97]

I've always thought this was a good idea. It will be very handy for a lot of people and it will also be just a pretty cool addition to the remote. I can't wait to see how it goes.

[Yasinali]

I Understand What The Vitality Sensor Can Do But How Are They Going To Effectively Implement It Into Games?

[Xander]

Originally Posted by Yasinali I Understand What The Vitality Sensor Can Do But How Are They Going To Effectively Implement It Into Games?

Well, imagine a horror game that actually measures your pulse and changes gameplay and difficulty based on how scared you are. Or imagine an RPG with branching story arcs that were determined by not 2 or 3 choices, but based on some biological signal give out through the vitality sensor in regards to each character.