Picture yourself in this scenario: you and your daredevil friends think it would be a great idea to jump over an eight-foot flight of steps with your skateboard. As you approach the jump, you freak out, awkwardly land on the ground, and happen to severely break your arm. Tough luck. Weeks of pain and possible physical therapy ensue.
To your surprise, though, when you step into physical therapy, you are not given the typical exercises to regain strength. A familiar white box and remote sit in front of you. That’s right, the NintendoWii is a part of yout physical therapy.
Since its inception into the next-generation console wars in November of 2006, Nintendo’s Wii has always been slightly different in its approach.
Overshadowed by competitiors, Playstation 3 and Xbox 360. The Wii appeals to a variety of age ranges. People from age 8 to 80 are picking up a versatile Wiimote. Lately, the systems have become the talk of the…hospital.
Doctors are using the Wii for rehab patients.
From patients with recent strokes to combat injuries, from broken bones to surgery, monotony is no more during the recouperation period while the white controller is in use.
The routine stretches and lifts that the patients perform are at times painful and repetitive and can result in a lack of motivation to get better. However, with the Wii’s rather unique motion-sensor controller, the games are inhibiting virtually the same body movements neede to perform the typical therapy sessions.
As a result, occupational therapy tasks, such as brushing teeth and combing hair are relearned much quicker. Even those patients with great loss of movement to their fingers can play, since the Wiimote does not require mashing buttons to make a move on a game.
How can a simple game help a physical therapy patien? What distinguishes the Wii games (especially the ones featured in “Wii Sports”) from the usual exercises is that the patients are almost unaware they are performing the tasks they were required to before.
They are enjoying the console. Games such as bowling, golf, and tennis not only inhibit the same arm swing motions that are required of the real sports, but also bring out the competitive side in the patients. This can be a healthy for of motivation and optimism in the sense that PT doesn’t have to be a session to dread.
In addition to Nintendo’s newest console making therapy fun inside the hospitals, it is making memorable times outside of it as well.
Older patients (at least 55) are playing the Wii games with their grandchildren.
Older people are more inclined to gain improved strength and coordination while having fun playing a sport. There is even a commercial that illustrates this. A few grandfathers are dressed up in bowling jerseys and are making strikes on the virtual lanes with the younger ones in the family.
The most ironic part about this whole “Wiihabilitation” phenomenon is the response that Nintendo is receiving.. Anka Dolecki, a Nintendo company representative, says, the comapny does not market nor target the Wiis for use in physical therapy. Nonetheless, the company is happy to see an additional benefit.
The console is a player in a different ball game. I believe that most gamers (especially the devoted ones) saw the Wii as somewhat of a gimmick.
The online capability, graphics, and library of the Wii do not seem nearly as expansive or comparable to Microsoft or Sony’s recent products. Truth be told, the comparison is like apples and oranges.
This statement in a discussion of this topic eventually led to a verbal fight with a friend’s friend one night, where I backed up my claims with the commercials with everyone, young and old, easily picking up and playing the Wii.
My opponent in this match was stating that the Wii is a novelty and that Nintendo is not a forward-thinking company.
Needless to say, I think he was missing the point. Nintendo, has invested much more time and energy into gameplay than any other entity possible in a video game console (the company has yet to add a DVD player or the highest quality HD resolution to their systems).
Therefore, take the Wii system for what it is— a console with mass appeal and capability for anyone to play.
The systems continue to sell out across America, making it quite the hot commodity for those yearning to play lifelike games.
Now, would doctors insist that a Wii be rush-delivered to their rehab clinic if he or she would be receiving the usual “sit down and mash buttons” type of games? Of course not. The Wii can do much more than ever before in straightforward gameplay.
Not to be forgotten, there are studies at research centers to see if the Wii is an effective tool in the rehab process. Some researchers need scientific proof.
No matter how many studies are done, I still believe that if you can play your favorite sport in a virtual form to regain strength, in order to go back and perform in said sport again, then the Wii has done its job in rehab clinics.
fonte : http://media.www.gsusignal.com
