From jhu.edu:

Wii-habilitation" — using Nintendo’s Wii video game system in rehabilitation therapy — continues to be popular with health care workers looking to help patients get through what some see as the pain and torture of physical therapy. Now two engineers in APL’s National Security Technology Department have cranked that concept up a notch. Bobby Armiger and Jacob Vogelstein have rewired Nintendo’s Guitar Hero III : Legends of Rock game to allow amputees to rock out and get valuable training with prosthetic prototypes at the same time.

Their gaming is part of the APL-led Revolutionizing Prosthetics 2009 effort, funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, to develop a prosthetic arm that will be controlled and also feel, look and perform like a natural limb. So far the project has produced two prototypes and has leveraged a surgical technique, developed at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago by Todd Kuiken, that reroutes the nerves that once controlled an amputee’s arm to remaining muscles. These "re- innervated" muscles naturally amplify the nerve signals so that electrodes placed against the skin can detect activity and control the prosthetic arm.

From gamedaily.com:

Universities of Chichester and Gloucestershire today announced a partnership with Blondie drummer Clem Burke. This unique collaboration will look into the benefits, both mental and physical, of playing drums in games like Guitar Hero World Tour. Working with Activision, the study will look at the effect drumming games can have on obesity, autism and stroke patients in addition to seeing whether interactive video games can aid stress release and improve productivity in the workplace.

"We are interested in finding out how interactive video games, such as Guitar Hero World Tour , can improve the health and mental well-being of people," said Dr. Marcus Smith, Principal Lecturer in Exercise Physiology, at the University of Chichester. "Despite a global recession, sales of interactive video games remain high. As researchers we are interested in understanding why such games are so appealing and how they may be used to investigate specific research questions. We are particularly interested in examining the effects of playing Guitar Hero World Tour on child and adult obesity, autism, stroke patients, disengaged communities, and health and mental well-being in the workplace."

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From daily-journal.com:

More importantly, Jones believes the interactive game play enables his family to get plenty of exercise. "You can get worn out playing these games," he said.

For years, video games have been partially blamed for the nation’s epidemic of childhood obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes and other lifestyle diseases linked to inactivity. But now fitness experts are trying to determine whether interactive video games are a good way to get fit.

After all, players of the game "Dance Dance Revolution" can work up a sweat jumping on a "dance pad” to hit colored arrows in response to musical and visual cues.

But how healthy are interactive video games? Are doctors encouraging their use as a form of exercise, especially when local residents feel stuck inside in cold winter months?

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From blogs.discovermagazine.com:

Wii rehab might sound like radical intervention for video game addicts, but it’s actually effective physical therapy for patients recovering from strokes, injuries, or surgeries. Otherwise tedious strength and coordination exercises go by a little easier if they involve waving a wireless controller to play virtual bowling, tennis, and golf. But it doesn’t stop there. The next step in video game rehab is “Air Guitar Hero,” which would allow amputees to rock out with the immensely popular Guitar Hero game using a mechanical arm wired to their chest muscles.

…

They tested the Air Guitar Hero system on Iraq veteran Jon Kuniholm, who lost his right hand three years ago. With electrodes attached to what was left of his arm and a little practice, Kuniholm was able to score a respectable 70 percent on the easy level. “You’re doing something simple,” he says. “It’s not rocket science. But you have to do it fast and you have to time it right.”

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From spectrum.ieee.org (via slashdot.org):

Rehabilitation specialists have taken to Nintendo’s Wii game console as a way to help motivate patients during physical therapy and rehabilitation. The latest addition to the Wii-hab phenomenon is perhaps its coolest—Air Guitar Hero. Researchers at Johns Hopkins University have made the popular Guitar Hero game into a tool for amputees who are being fitted with the next generation of artificial arms. With a few electrodes and some very powerful algorithms, amputees can hit all the notes of Pat Benatar’s “Hit Me With Your Best Shot” using only the electrical signals from their residual muscles.

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