Video games showed a beneficial side at the Games for Health 2004 conference Thursday at the Monona Terrace, 1 John Nolen Dr. Attended by medical, academic and gaming professionals, the conference displayed demos of health-oriented games and held presentations on the medical angle of regular games.
\People talk about games, but we're not really talking about games here,"" said Jim Brazell of the University of Texas. ""We're talking about a whole other level here.""
Legacy Interactive presented its ""ACLS Interactive"" program, designed as an accompaniment to cardiology textbooks. Users are supplied with twenty heart failure cases and must treat the patient using tools such as stethoscopes, IV lines and EKG monitors. Real-life conditions are simulated by ambient noises such as hospital speakers and transitions into an ambulance.
On an entertainment angle, the software company Inspiracy demoed their nutrition game ""Hungry Red Planet."" Game play is similar to SimCity, but all the people of the city need to be given the right level of nutrition, chosen from a food database. If they do not receive the right amount they become mutants and attack the city, only fended off by being attacked with appropriate foods.
Noah Felstein of Inspiracy said the goal of the game is to teach nutrition in an indirect way.
""The kids will pick up that knowledge along the way,"" he said. ""If you can make it fun and get the kids involved, they won't even realize they're learning.""
Beyond educational value, video games had their practical aspects examined. In a Syracuse University study assistant professor Viswanath Unnithan showed how ""Dance Dance Revolution"" serves as a ""viable exercise alternative"" for kids, with a minimum of 65 minutes a day raising average heart rates to the American College of Sports Medicine's ideal level.
The life-saving side of games shone as well with a presentation by Dr. James Rosser of Beth Israel Hospital. Testing his theory that ""Nintendo doctors"" have quicker reflexes, Rosser put resident doctors through games such as ""Super Monkey Ball"" which involve hand-eye coordination and two-dimensional targeting for three hours a day, and then observed improvements on surgical simulations.
Study results were dramatic, with the overall score of participants showing 37 fewer lower errors than non-gamers and a 27 percent improvement in speed. Additional research demonstrated that, with warm-up gaming before surgery, errors went down by 46 percent and speed increased by 16 percent.
The conference continues today from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Monona Terrace.
