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View Points
On Getting Off the Couch to Play Video Games
Ed Gottsman
Consumer electronics giant Philips has patented a ball-shaped, throwable display whose position and movement are tracked by a stationary controller; in addition, positions of players in the living room are tracked using ultrasound units. Philips says that the device could be used for a new generation of "whole body" games. One possible game that's been suggested is a version of Keep Away in which the ball turns a different color when it goes out of bounds.

So What?
I haven't had a chance to try a Wii, but my understanding is that some of the games can be very aerobic in a subversive sort of way--that is, they don't feel aerobic because they're so much fun. (Dave Barry once defined "aerobic" as a "measure of how boring an activity is.")

The problem with Keep Away as described is that signaling when a ball goes out of bounds is not exactly central to the game--a game that may not even have bounds. And it's not clear what the throwable display can do for the rest of the game--if I get the ball (which is the only game event of any interest) everyone knows I've got the ball--having it turn colors when that happens isn't going to be very interesting. In short, I don't need a fancy throwable display: I could get a similar game experience (and possibly a much better post-game experience) with a chocolate muffin in a baggie.

I'm probably suffering from a failure of imagination, and maybe Philips has something clever in mind. I hope so--I sometimes think that aerobic video games are the Western World's last best hope of not getting wedged, sated beyond belief, in our reinforced reclining sofas.

A weblog is an online, semi-personal journal offering the opinion and commentary of the author on conversations and stories that appear elsewhere on the Web, along with links to relevant websites and articles. The following content is the personal opinion of Ed Gottsman, a senior researcher with Accenture Technology Labs. Ed’s blogs can also be found at ZDNet.com.The opinions of the writer do not necessarily reflect the position of Accenture on this subject.
March 2008
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