Video games are great! They keep us out of the house during these annoyingly temperate days of spring. They allow us to compete in fantastical tournaments, and occasionally stomp on evil mushrooms or throw pissed off birds at child-thieving pigs. In other words, gaming rules. However, where are the innovations that let game controllers read our emotions to know if we are bored or not, and thus increase or decrease a game’s difficultly accordingly? Where is that amazing and mysterious technology? Well, as it stands, not all that far off.
A series of designers are Stanford University has developed something called the Emotional Controller. As stated above, the controller is outfitted with a team of sensors that read subtle changes in our skin and transfer that data into information about our emotional state. Then, again as stated above, this information on one’s emotional state is transferred to the game’s difficulty or lack thereof. It’s an interesting way to go about how a player interacts with their game. Eventually, these sensors can also be embedded in something wearable, be it watch or otherwise.
This tech is neat but similar tech is already being used by the big console manufacturers. Xbox One’s Kinect sensor reads the same subtle changes in body as does the PS4 camera. So, yeah, this tech may never reach consumer status but that doesn’t mean it’s not cool. It is cool. It is. Here is a video of the tech in action.
