Nintendo Wii introduced at the Electronics Entertainment Expo a sensor that goes on your finger and hooks up to your controller. It will measure "skin conductance” and could be used at a lie detector. Friendly Computers thinks you may find this cool too…
At the E3 (Electronic Entertainment Expo) trade show in Los Angeles, Nintendo announced the Wii Vitality Sensor accessory for its market-leading Nintendo Wii game console.
The Wii Vitality Sensor attaches to the user's finger to read their pulse and measure "skin conductance".
Games using the Wii Vitality Sensor have not been announced yet, but Nintendo said the Vitality Sensor would "provide information to the users about the body's inner world".
Nintendo staff at E3 suggested their ground-breaking device would enable developers to create games which check stress or aid relaxation.
Skin conductance response is a measurement of fluctuations in the electrical conductivity of skin -- also known as electrodermal response and galvanic skin response.
These fluctuations in conductivity correlate with changes in emotions, such as experiencing fear, anger and desire.
That's why polygraphs - generally called lie detectors - measure skin conductivity changes along with other bodily responses including pulse and blood pressure.
Polygraphs are used to measure how a person responds to a series of questions to try to determine if they are telling the truth.
Their use for interrogating suspects is surrounded with controversy because their accuracy has been challenged.
You can imagine games along "truth or dare" lines being developed for fun at home on a Nintendo Wii fitted with a Wii Vitality Sensor.
The Wii could use the sensor to assess whether or not the player was telling the truth.
Imagine the embarrassing consequences such games will have - ranging from catching out a child's fibs to revealing a partner's infidelities.
Source: http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,25613185-11869,00.html
