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MAY 13, 2004
Game for a Little Therapy? Video gaming isn't just shoot-'em-ups. A new breed of designers aims to ease phobias, boost concentration, maybe even fight cancer Picture this: You must climb a mountain to reach a temple. But to get there, you will need to make an ally of a magic tree, which inhales, holds the breath for five seconds, and slowly exhales. If you can ape that pattern for a full two minutes, the tree will build you a set of stairs to the sky. A mental image to be conjured during an esoteric yoga exercise? Not at all. It's part of a computer game called The Journey to Wild Divine. Combining elements of Buddhism, Christianity, and Kabbalah, the game comes with sensor rings that slip over three fingers to monitor the heart rate and epidermal skin response. The object is to teach players to reenergize or calm themselves -- goals you don't find in typical video and computer games, many of which are better known for depicting violence rather than relieving stress. "MISSED OPPORTUNITY." Wild Divine is heralding the arrival of a new genre: healthful games. While not all experts agree, there is an accumulating body of evidence that indicates they can aid relaxation, improve self-esteem, help to overcome phobias -- even assist those with attention deficit disorder (ADD) to cope with the condition. If the publishing industry is any indication, the self-help gaming market has significant sales potential. Self-help books, which went mainstream in 1936 with Dale Carnegie's How to Win Friends and Influence People, raked in sales of $650 million in 2003, and the segment is growing faster than the overall consumer-books market, according to Simba Information, a publishing-research firm in Stamford, Conn. According to Marc Prensky, a New York City gaming consultant, a groundbreaking gaming title would have much the same potential to jumpstart an equally vibrant self-help gaming industry. Eventually, all games and gaming devices will offer health or educational features, predicts Alan Pope, an engineer and psychologist at NASA's Langley Research Center. "I really see this as a missed opportunity, so far," he says. After all, 4% to 6% of the U.S. population suffers from ADD, according to the Attention Deficit Disorder Assn, and 75% to 90% of visits to physicians are stress-related, reports the American Institute of Stress. FALLING COSTS. Games could provide a solution. It goes without saying that they are a lot more fun than visiting therapists or taking medications. Plus, one American in two -- that's 146 million people -- already play computer and video games, according to the Entertainment Software Assn. Whatever their ultimate future, healthful games are certainly generating a rising interest. In March, some 300 people gathered in San Jose, Calif., for the first-ever Serious Games Summit, a conference on the use of games in health-care and education. For the past three years, health-related games have been developed at many universities, including Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and at labs such as the Langley Research Center, where researchers have patented their concepts and technology. Meanwhile, the cost of key components of healthy gaming -- sensors, for example -- has been coming down rapidly, and a slew of startups has released self-help gaming products, some of which are flying off the shelves. Wild Divine, a 12-employee outfit in Boulder, Colo., sold 4,000 copies of its $159.95 game in December, the first month it was on the market. Lately, sales of the software and sensors that hook up to a PC's USB port are running at around 50 units every day, and Wild Divine's founder, Kurt Smith, who has a PhD in biometrical engineering, says his outfit should be turning a profit come fall. CLICK THAT CLOUD. Another player is Philadelphia-based CyberLearning Technology, where operations director, Lindsay Greco, says hundreds of orders have already been placed for a soon-to-be-released system designed for ADD sufferers. CyberLearning's system includes a headset with embedded sensors, a control box the size of a cell phone, and a controller, similar to the one sold with a standard video-gaming console. Based on technology licensed from NASA, it is designed to work with existing games and gaming consoles and should sell for around $350. Since research has found that children with ADD have different, low-frequency brain-wave patterns, the system tracks the frequency of those waves. When a player exhibits those low-frequency patterns, explains NASA's Pope, who created the technology, CyberLearning's device slows down the game -- usually your standard racing or skateboarding title. If kids want to enjoy the games to the fullest, the device requires them to produce higher-frequency brain waves, which are key to fighting ADD. When used as part of therapy sessions, Pope adds, kids are much likely to attend. Other games have little to do with sensors -- and are available for free. On May 6, researchers at McGill University in Montreal released a series of games designed to increase the player's self-esteem (you can download them here). It turns out that people with poor self-esteem exhibit a perverse vigilance in discerning signs and expressions of rejection in others. So McGill's scientists designed a game in which the user must click on smiley faces that zoom across the screen on clouds. Playing for just five minutes a day gives self-confidence a major boost, says McGill psychologist Mark Baldwin. The university is now testing this and other games on telemarketers, whose egos take a daily battering as part of their jobs. TARGET: CANCER. Meanwhile, Stephane Bouchard, of the Cyberpsychology Laboratory at the University of Quebec, uses virtual-reality games to treat phobias. Today, the only proven way to fight a phobia is to tackle it head-on: For example, if a patient fears flying, a leading cure has been to purchase a ticket and board a plane, often with a therapist. Bouchard developed an alternative that uses a real airplane seat purchased from Air Canada. Now, once patients are seated, they don virtual-reality goggles that simulate the sights of a flight, giving both patient and doctor more control over the whole experience. The success rate is similar to that of the real thing, Bouchard says. And since the price of virtual-reality equipment has shrunk by a factor of eight over the past five years, Bouchard notes that such treatments are becoming increasingly affordable. Some games are even crafted to help with serious illnesses, such as cancer. May 7 saw the unveiling of Ben's Game, a joint effort between 9-year-old leukemia patient Ben Duskin, who is now in remission, and Eric Johnston, a senior software engineer at game developer LucasArts. The pair were brought together by the Greater Bay Area Make-A-Wish Foundation to create a game in which the player battles video-screen fever monsters while shielding the body from nausea, hair loss, and chemotherapy's other typical side effects. GROWING FIELD. "The big frustration that Ben experienced was that, while you're at the hospital, there's... a lot being done to you, but nothing you can do that you can get good at," explains Johnston. At the very least, figures Johnston, his brainchild will temporarily distract cancer patients from their problems. (It can be downloaded at the Make-A-Wish Foundation.) Until self-help games really take off, publicly traded game developers aren't likely to go beyond the popular first-person shooter or sports games that currently dominate the industry, says Prensky. And more research is needed to establish just how useful the games really are in promoting better health. Indeed, many doctors say the games' efficacy in treating anxiety and ADD has not been adequately established. But, proven or not, increasing numbers of startups are throwing their hats into the ring -- and quite a few experts see that as a positive trend.  By Olga Kharif in Portland, Ore. Edited by Thane Peterson
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