Gibson guitars is suing Activision for patent violation in Activision’s wildly popular Guitar Hero according to a story posted by Reuters. This is just one more example of how the proliferation of media technologies is changing the way we understand our world. Trying to apply old rules and old thinking to new technologies isn’t going to work. (And who knew you could file a patent to prevent the “simulation of a musical performance?”)
New thinking is required for video games, too. A January entry by Chris Faylor on the blog Shack News links to a cool story about how Guitar Hero was successfully used for rehabilitating range of motion of a patient’s arm and shoulder. An occupational therapist told Shack News that:
“We’d been doing a lot (of rehabilitation work) with range of motion, but (the patient) was still lacking in pronation and supination in his forearm…Guitar Hero really helped out a lot with that, especially the supination because he had to hold that pose.”
This is one of several examples of positive effects of video gaming. Great news for all the aging baby-boomer wanna-be rock and rollers. It’s possible to have rehab and still be cool.
Dr. Pamela Rutledge is available to reporters for comments on the psychological and social impact of media and technology on individuals, society, organizations and brands.