Wii finding markets PS3 and Xbox 360 never thought about
Since the first day of the Nintendo Wii being out on the market, Nintendo has claimed that the Wii is not a gaming console but an entertainment system. That statement may need to be revised after seeing what Ohio State University Medical Center’s Dodd Hall Rehabilitation Hospital in Columbus is doing with it.
Robbie Winget, an occupational therapist at the Dodd Hall Rehabilitation Hospital in Columbus Ohio, had a boost of inspiration after hearing about a rehab hospital in Alberta, Canada using a video game system in their program. Having played a Wii at a friend’s house, Winget was convinced that the motions used by the game would benefit patients.
"I thought it was cool that you used your body to control the movement," Winget told Reuters.
The system is being used for neurological and spinal injuries including patients who have suffered from stroke. With the combination of the physical movement that the wiimote provides, plus the mental simulation of the video game, they are having significant success adding it to their rehabilitation program.
Franklin Perry, a 51 year old stroke victim commented on the Wii, "This is more fun. It makes it more exciting. It gets me to work harder,"
With news of such a thing being done with the Wii, I am fairly certain that it will not take long till we will see research put into the effects of using a Wii as a physical therapy treatment. Even without a full study, we will see more clinics and hospitals using this in their treatments and families buying units for extended home treatment. Regardless of its use, Nintendo has successfully infiltrated a market that they didn’t even know it was there.
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