The future of gaming’s surface was scratched in May at the NeuroGaming Conference and Expo hosted conference founder, Zach Lynch.
The future for game designers will be to integrate psycho-emotional inputs which measure anything from facial analysis, heart rate, voice measurement, skin conductance, pupil dilation, eye tracking, brain activity, as well as your evolving emotional profile.
These games become acquainted with users at a subconscious level while providing an experience that will make it more difficult to differentiate between reality and virtuality.
The expected outcome of neurogaming is reliant upon continued development of stable augmented and virtual reality technologies.
One concept that is making waves is the Haptic technology and force feedback which is used for gaming that simulates not only holding a specific object, but also real physical sensations involved when using the object such as kick back from a gun or resistance when stabbing with a sword.
This way, hitting a golf ball won’t simply feel like swinging through air (as it would on the Nintendo Wii), it will feel like actually hitting a golf ball. This technology is reaching far beyond the gaming community. Health care providers, military experts and kinesiologists are realizing the benefits of Neuro-Gaming.
What will it do for gaming?
Imagine playing football and feeling impact of blocking offensive linemen. When playing baseball, users will actually feel the vibration when the batter makes contact with a fastball.
Box with haptic technology and feel the impact of every jab, hook, and uppercut. Users will play tennis with an actual racket while feeling the impact of every serve, forehand, and backhand.
Imagine playing free online slots where you can feel the spring action of the legacy lever of a slot machine while praying for three cherries in a row. Shooting guns will involve actual kick back. Gamers will feel the momentum while swinging a medieval flail, and much more.
This type of gaming essentially brings together the mind and body giving the technology intimate insight into the user’s psyche. The days of swinging imaginary tennis rackets will soon be over as the dawn of a new era in gaming takes its place.
