"Kids can play games while nurses take care of their wounds"
In 2005, Mark Griffiths, a professor of gambling studies, authored an article in the British Medical Journal stating how gaming could be a useful tool in health care and, more specifically, pain management. Griffiths suggests that playing games "can distract the player from the sensation of pain, a strategy that has been reported and evaluated among paediatric patients". Griffiths' complete text, which also looks at adverse effects of gaming, can be found here.
To see this game-assisted method of pain management in practice, click the movie player below and watch how - by occupying a young burns victim with a snowball-based virtual reality game - it helps him cope with his treatment much more comfortably.
"This demonstrates the value of these systems beyond playing games - this is something that could change the World"
Sony announced earlier this year that over one million PS3 users were helping scientists to improve their understanding of such diseases as Parkinson's, Alzheimer's and cancer by registering for the Folding@home program. It works by harnessing the combined power of computers and consoles all over the world to perform complex simulations that would take individual machines years to complete. We'll let the movie below explain exactly how Folding@home works.
If you've got a PC you can download the Folding@home software here, while networked PS3 users simply have to click on the Folding@home icon under Network on the XMB to get involved.
