From bjhcim.co.uk:

The EU-funded PlayMancer project is using existing 3D video gaming engines to develop innovative ways of interaction between the player and the game world. The project is focusing on supporting the development ‘universally accessible games’ so that players of all abilities can use the games, especially for physical rehabilitation.

The project is aiming to shorten the game production chain and make it more cost effective based on generative modelling, and thus reduce the cost of offering a full-fledged pre-designed gaming world.

The project is developing a series games modules in two application domains: physical rehabilitation, and therapeutic support and lifestyle management programs for behavioural and addictive disorders.

From canada.com:

For patients on Unit 58 at the Foothills Medical Centre, rehab can be fun and games.

The unit, home of the centre’s Tertiary Neuro Rehab Program, utilizes a Nintendo Wii video game system as part of its rehabilitation efforts for patients with brain and spinal cord injuries, those who have suffered strokes and others with different neurological diagnoses.

Andy Ganden, a recreational therapist on the unit, says the Wii is just one of many tools used for rehab but adds it’s a valuable one.

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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 suwanneedemocrat.com:

For two months now, patients at Suwannee Health and Rehabilitation Center have been playing games to get well.

Suwannee Health and Rehab has implemented a Nintendo Wii game system to enhance its therapy program. The gaming system benefits patients who are diagnosed with various aliments, including cardio-pulmonary difficulties, joint problems, osteoarthritis and stroke.

Wii is an interactive system in which players act out the movements of the games they are playing. In Wii baseball, for example, players swing the game controller as if it were a bat.

Lana Rhoden, rehab director at Suwannee Health and Rehabilitation Center (formerly Suwannee Health Care Center), said the Wii system enhances patients’ recovery and lets them have fun in the process.

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From voanews.com:

American soldiers in combat drive tanks and Humvees. But when members of the military return to the United States to recover from critical injuries, they need help re-learning how to drive regular cars. The nation’s army rehabilitation hospital, the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, has a new tool to get veterans driving their own automobiles and their own destiny. VOA’s Carolyn Presutti shows it to us.

Christopher Levi is driving a classic American vehicle. A Chevrolet truck. The driver’s view is different from the real world. But then again, Christopher is a different driver from what he was eight months ago.

He is a double amputee. Christopher’s legs were shattered by a bomb while he was riding in a humvee near Baghdad’s Sadr City. This driving simulator now steers his way through rehabilitation, monitoring his heart rate through a clip on his ear. The goal is to transition from driving in combat to driving in cities.

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From woai.com:

Judith Markelz has relied on volunteers for years to help the war wounded and their families. They’ve brought meals, DVDs, event tickets and an endless supply of cookies to help comfort those whose lives are suddenly upended by a bomb or a bullet.

So when a new volunteer, Les Huffman, arrived at the chaotic 1,000-square-foot room used for the Warrior and Family Support Center in January 2007 and asked what Markelz needed, the program manager said a new video game system.

But Huffman, the president of a small commercial development firm, wanted to do more. And when Markelz conceded she could use a little more room, that’s what she got: a $5 million building designed like a Texas Hill Country home with a therapeutic garden, classroom, video game room and kitchen – all paid for by private donations. It’s the first center of its kind built on an Army post.

“I asked for an Xbox 360 and I got a 12,500 square-foot building,” she laughs. “Nice trade-off.”

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