NORIGO - A Video Game

“NORIGO” is a multiplayer video game where biofeedback sensors are used as the primary interface instead of the traditional controller techniques. Players compete only with the power of their minds. Their thoughts, feelings, and use of breath will provide the biofeedback sensors with new data to alter the game's outcome. Biofeedback used in a multiplayer video game can bring new elements to the interaction; such as an increased narrative game experience. But in the video game industry very few experiments have been done in this area and none when it comes to multiplayer games. That’s why the game “NORIGO” as an experiment is designed to use biofeedback sensors to read and display heart rate and skin conductivity data from multiplayer. The games deeper intention is to understand, in a compelling way, how biofeedback in a multiplayer game can increase internal awareness about our state of mind and our social interactions.

“NORIGO” created as a multiplayer non-violent game came naturally. But using biofeedback sensors for players to mentally compete is new and exciting. I have for several decades studied various spiritual paths and personally meditate every day. This has brought more awareness of how we can alter our current state and, by will, reach a place of increased harmony. There are many ways to achieve such a state. Breathing techniques using mantras combined with deep mental concentration using visualizations can increase a calm state of mind. The world is an interaction between our body with its five sense channels and our thoughts. By monitoring our thoughts and separating them from the world of duality we will eventually transcend into the place of one pointed-ness. In this state, all of the body's faculties have reached a rhythm of self-certain harmonies. This gives us the freedom to leave the body alone and transcend from body consciousness through sub-consciousness eventually reaching our supper consciousness, also called 'Samadhi'. In this state we are in oneness with Ever-New Bliss.
Although most of us enjoy our body consciousness and don’t always desire a state of "Ever-New Bliss", we all enjoy more peace of mind and internal harmony. Biofeedback has the ability to help us reduce stress by amplifying our mental power to improve our physical performance. The game “NORIGO”, I believe, can give the player more awareness and knowledge about mind body connections.

Biofeedback sensors
The brain develops throughout a lifetime.
Individuals have the ability to alter their mental state purely through the power of their thinking which forces the brain to reinvent it's dynamic. Every bit of neural real estate is assigned a job and reflects a common belief that different parts of an adult’s brain are hardwired for certain functions. Although specific portions of the brain specialize in certain tasks, the brain is much more adaptable to change under new circumstances.

The adult brain is flexible, able to forge new connections among its neurons and thus rewire itself. Regions that get the most use literally expand. The life we live leaves its mark in the complex circuitry of our brain; footprints of the experiences we have had, the thoughts and the actions. Endless experiments using biofeedback sensors have been conducted to demonstrate that the brain also recreates itself based on something much more ephemeral than action, it reinvents itself through the power of thoughts.

My desire is to create an interactive, artistic device in the form of a virtual multiplayer video game using biofeedback from sensors to measure the player's state of being. My goal is to bring to users an awareness of their current mental state by monitoring their inner feelings, which they, through concentration, can alter and then feed back through the biofeedback sensors, which will then let them progress through the game.

Biofeedback is a proven form of healthcare that has been used in clinics for over thirty years to read brain activity, blood pressure, heart rate, and other bodily functions and displays a patient’s internal bodily functions. Clinical feedback techniques are now widely used to increased awareness and differentiation of mental states.

Some few physical sensors used in vast industries to measure one’s mental state in relationship to stress are:

--- EEG Neurofeedback which accurately measures brainwave activity through sensors, safely placed on the surface of the head.
--- The EKG Sensor measures electrical signals produced during muscle and heart contractions.
--- Galvanic Skin Response Sensor (GSR) reads the moisture from the skin.

Through these sophisticated feedback systems, individuals can examine their day-to-day lives and learn to accept much of the responsibility for maintaining their own health. Improvements in the ability to focus and sustain concentration will naturally develop.

Biofeedback used in games started when NASA scientists measured pilot’s attention and engagement to task in flight simulators. One of the scientists, Dr. Alan Pope recognized that a flight simulator was very similar to a video game. Dr. Pope applied his findings to help Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) children to stay focused by choosing common video games and linking the biofeedback signal from the player’s brain waves to a handheld controller that guides the game's action.

He discovered that kids showed substantial improvements in everyday brain-wave patterns as well as improving their attention span. The S.M.A.R.T. BrainGames technology has been in the business of delivering biofeedback services since 1982. They bring these advanced NASA training concepts into an effective and fun experience for children and adults. But S.M.A.R.T. BrainGames is focused on the technology of biofeedback sensors rather than producing games. They invented a system where the player can attach commercial DVD games to BrainGames equipment to accurately measure the player’s brainwave activities. If the player looses his or her concentration, the biofeedback turns off the game telling the player to bring back the focus to continue the game. But designing biofeedback is totally out of their reach.

Over the past few months, I have done endless research to see what is out there; I have found that there are a few commercial video games that use biofeedback sensors for an individual, but none for multiplayer. Mindball is the only multiplayer game I could find, but again it’s not a video game. Mindball and especially the video game WildDevine are the only two games I found intriguing.

Mindball
$18,000.00
Mindball was introduced in 2002 as a game where you compete in relaxation. The players’ brainwaves control a ball on a table, and the more relaxed player scores a goal over the opponent.

WildDevine
$199.95
Kurt R. Smith and Corwin Bell introduced WildDevine in 2003 as compelling visual and audio experiences through the use of biofeedback. WildDevine is an individual game used as a multimedia- teaching tool to help the player to reduce stress and achieve emotional and physical well-being. It teaches the player how to practice breathing and meditation techniques to achieve control over our mind & body. The graphics are exquisite and guide the player through a dreamy interior/exterior virtual world. Through three attached finger sensors Wild Divine uses a biofeedback hardware platform and measures skin conductance levels (SCL) and heart rate variability. The measurements are registered and displayed on the screen to teach the player how to control his or her bodies’ reaction to their state of mind. Additional software shows several graphs illustrating the physical changes that occur when the player tries to overcome different tasks.

--- This first graph shows the decrease in Skin Conductance Level (SCL) signifying a state of relaxation.

--- This second graph depicts the simultaneous harmonies occurring between the decrease in SCL (pink line), the even wave of the heart rate variability (purple line), the steady strength of the pulse (red lines), and the peaks of the pulse rate (green dots).

In a personal experience, a friend of mine introduced WildDevine to me. He bought it to build up his stamina before he underwent radiation. The thought of the impending treatment drained his spirit. We used the game to share thoughts about subjects related to spiritual and physical self-improvement.

User scenario
My background research led me to two important games.
Mindball
WildDevine

Mindball was introduced in 2002 as a game where two to six players compete in relaxation. The players’ brainwaves control a running ball on a long rectangular table. The ball runs back and forth from one end to the other. There are all together six biofeedback sensors and any combination of players can be played, such as one individual against three or two against two, etc. The player(s) who is more relaxed, scores a goal over the opponent(s). The players are sitting on each side of the table. The game received a lot of attention from the press and public when it was introduced at the Wired Magazine’s show here in NY in 2006.

The game I used for my user scenario was the solitary video WildDevine. It’s a vast game and covers over 40 levels spread over a terrain designed like an oriental garden from the “1001 Nights” fairytales. Each level must be overcome by using two kinds of sensors placed on the three middle fingers on the hand not used to move the mouse. The sensor on the middle finger reads the heart rate and the two other sensors read the moisture from the skin. The mouse is used to navigate through the virtual world from level to level. The biofeedback sensors are then used to move images on the screen within each level. Completing the tasks allows the player to progress though the game. Items are sometime given or found and are used to open doors etc.

I found two different kind of levels and isolated them
--- Level One – The player uses the biofeedback to raise and lower his or her energy to lift and lower eight stones and eventually stack them on top of each other.
--- Level Two – A Buddha is painted on the front of a door and the player must breathe rhythmically to make a yellow circle move down towards a second circle painted in the center of the Buddha. As the yellow circle progresses downwards, the Buddha opens His arm and when the circles merge, the door opens.

Using a stopwatch I timed how fast I could stack the stones and have Buddha’s circles merge. Eventually I understood how to alter my internal energy level and improve my performance. I asked twelve ITP students from the “Advanced Game Design Seminar” class conducted by Instructor Frank Lantz to user test my experiment. These students were passionate, hard-core gamers, but none had ever played a game using biofeedback sensors. By timing them to see how fast they could complete the two levels, I turned a solitary video game into a multiplayer one.

Daniel Liss a professional film photographer and a fellow student kindly offered to film the “Advanced Game Design Seminar” session while I presented the students’ final scores. They agreed that I had created a multiplayer biofeedback game by timing their performances. Animated dialogs came out of this interaction and Frank Lantz gave me invaluable advice. He encouraged me by expressing that I had something inherently really fascinating going on and that the game could be amazing if I kept it simple and focused on what the biofeedback sensors could do within the game. He added that my game dealt with a topic that means a lot to the people that might ask, "What does a game do to me when I play it – will it improve me – or is it just winding me up and make me more tense?”

With all the feedback I got, I returned to the “drawing board” thinking how to reconstruct my biofeedback project.

Navigation technology
1 – The game is played by two to six players divided into two security squads stationed on two space stations flanking "NORIGO" on each side.
2 – The squads can have any combination of players; three against one, two against three, etc. In this demonstration I have three players against two.
3 - A big screen shows the scores and displays a map of "NORIGO". The map displays the players’ locations and movements.
4 – Each player is armed with two kinds of wireless navigation tools.
5 - A standard controller attached to a LCD screen is used to navigate through the game. The LCD screen displays in perspective an individual player's point of view.
6 – Two kinds of biofeedback sensors are attached to a headband:
--- A - Galvanic Skin Response Sensors (GSR), placed on each side of the forehead - reads the moisture from the skin.
--- B - EKG sensors, placed on the temples – measure electrical signals produced during muscle and heart contractions.
The biofeedback sensors use the player’s energy flow to progress through “Events” hidden behind various kinds of closed doors.

How to play the game:
1 – Inside their spaceships the players start a race from their space stations using their controllers. They must fly down to "NORIGO” without being hit by too many asteroids.
2 – Having arrived at "NORIGO", they will be given the location to door number one, which they must reach first to win the race.
3 – A cut-scene will introduce the players to what they must do.
4 – Collectively the teams will press a button to activate the biofeedback sensors and have the big screen/monitor show the door in a perspective view.
5 – Each team using their power of thought controls the moving circles and eventually opens the door.

6 – An animation brings them through the door into a garden. Here both teams become one big team and with joint relaxation the mist that surrounds the garden will disappear.

7 – A white Buddha appears with two stacks of three balls each. Each team must compete by stacking the balls on top of each other.

8 – To lift and/or descend the first ball, the players within each team raise or lower their energy levels.

9 - The team who stacks the three balls first wins the game.

10 – The big screen/monitor displays again the map of "NORIGO" and reveals the next door’s location. The players again using their standard controllers must navigate around "NORIGO" unaware they have the power to fly.

11 – Door number two has a secret button the gamers must find.

12 – An animation brings the player into a domestic space where two large frames contain six slow moving circles. The frames are hung on the back wall. Two magic sticks point at the frames.
13 – The biofeedback energy moves the magic sticks up and down and when they point at one of the circles, an individual player can use his/her controller to shoot. If it’s a hit, the circle disappears, but if it’s a miss the game goes on. Three misses will add an extra circle.
14 – Whichever team "disappears" all the circles wins this part of the game.
15 – Behind the next door are two tiled images next to each other. Each of the six pieces that makes up the tile has to be rotated until they match each other.
16 – The players will point with their controllers on one of the pieces and with the biofeedback rotate them so they eventually will match.
17 – Behind each door is a variety of different kind of games for the powerful minds to solve.
18 – The final destination is the black door with the red circle. By deep concentration the circle will turn black and the door will open. Here the player must concentrate on a rhythmic breathing to make two metal balls touch each other to connect the power and release the fireworks.

An afterthought is that not all explosions are destructive. This reminded me of a time when the Chinese invented the explosive to only use it for fireworks.
Time has surely changed that.

My thesis project is about creating and designing a multiplayer biofeedback video game. Developing this project has been filled with many explorations; mostly because I’m not a hard-core gamer.

My emphasis is not, for now, to make a commercially successful game – but to understand the aspect of how biofeedback sensors can fit into an interactive multiplayer video game where players in competition use their thoughts as a navigation tool within a game.

Based on my own user-tested research, I have found that it’s compelling for us to compete using the power of what’s going on within us. Most test users were taken by surprise as to how well or how poorly they did. The test was for many users very personal and even intimidating because the game displayed something outside of their control.

Most test users agreed that the game, in the long run, increases knowledge of how to control our own bodies. The knowledge achieved could be used in other parts of life to lower stress levels and increase internal harmony.

Designing a game like “NORIGO” was a learning experience. Although there is much work to be done before this project has proven itself, I’m convinced that using biofeedback sensors in a multiplayer video game will be a part of future gaming.

“NORIGO” as an Internet game played by multiplayer is, for me, easy to see. Each player with their biofeedback sensors hooked up to a USB port will meet people on line, chat, and like in any amusement park, play all kinds of games including competing using the power of their minds.

Biofeedback might not, for some time, dominate a game but in the near future it might run integrated together with all the other interactions gamers like to play with in a video game.