Gaming with a dedicated health purpose
Since 2005, the Games for Health Conference has brought together researchers, medical professionals, and game developers to share information about the impact games and game technologies can have on health and health care. They’re a pretty wonky group, with a focus on health care policy, but a big part of their mission is to organize and accelerate the adoption of computer games for a variety of challenges facing the world today.
They’re not alone! Companies like Wild Divine and Somatic Vision have been pioneering fun and engaging video games that focus on stress reduction as a primary health objective in today’s world.
Wild Divine has partnered with prominent natural health and stress-busting gurus Andrew Weil and Deepak Chopra to provide a platform for guided meditation and stress reduction that uses physiological measurements — heart rate coherence and skin-sweat — collected by finger sensors and delivered into the video game environment to enable users to control the gameplay with their own minds.
And Somatic Vision has on its team a leading expert in biofeedback who has worked with global clients creating programs and approaches that reduce stress but also enhance mental clarity under pressure. Having worked with the French Ministry of Defense and the Israeli Defense Department, Yuval Oded has helped shape software that is effective in making audio-visual games and workshops complete with a virtual coach — that are specifically targeted to high-pressure executives, veterans, harried working parents and children facing change and uncertainty.
Somatic Vision’s newest offering, Alive, includes Oded’s 8-Week Program of on- and offscreen