Wii User Feedback
July 9, 2008
Wii Fit Recreates Home Exercise
What can bring out the competitive nature in even non-gamers, put a family in front of the TV and give the participants a work out all at the same time? The Nintendo Wii. The Nintendo Wii has had phenomenal success since it first hit the shelf. The Wii fills a niche that has been difficult for programmers to enter into until now. The Wii allows participants to actually move, swing, bat and even exercise in order to cause a response in the game or virtual world.
Not only is the Wii a mode of entertainment it is also being used in the medical field to assist with physical therapy as well as encourage couch potatoes to get off their seats and participate. Although the Wii’s original early games also required physical movements from the participants it is the Wii Fit program that has many people forgetting that the Wii is a gaming device altogether.
Wii fit allows the participant, Wii gamers are considered participants because they are actually partaking in the virtual world, to perform physical tasks similar to those achieved in a structured class at any health club. The difference is however that with the Wii you are able to in the comfort of your own living room partake in a virtual fitness class and receive feedback from your computerized instructor. At first thought to the pessimistic anti-gaming personality the Wii fit may seem hoaky, but in reality the feedback and calculations you receive during your workout are a combination of complex weights and measures determined by the Wii balance board.
The Wii balance board design was inspired by sumo wrestlers. The creators used a series of two separate scales, in the same fashion that sumo wrestlers are weighed, in order to receive two different data readings from the two feet of the participant. Through Wii fit the participant can follow the onscreen commands and directions for many yoga or pilates positions as well as simulate skiing, using a hula hoop and dancing.
Although the initial The Wii fit is a new way to exercise in the comfort of your home and eliminates virtually all excuses for avoiding a work out by making it fun, interactive and extremely accessible.
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[...] Mike wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptWii Fit Recreates Home Exercise. What can bring out the competitive nature in even non-gamers, put a family in front of the TV and give the participants a work out all at the same time? The Nintendo Wii. The Nintendo Wii has had … [...]