Wednesday 26 November 2014

TECHNOLOGY: Blood Sport, an Immersive Gaming System That Takes Some of Your Blood Whenever You Die in a Video Game

Blood Sport is a new gaming system that is set to revolutionize the way we donate blood through the process that involves playing video games. You’ll be so immersed in the game that you’ll hardly notice the blood being taken from you every time you lose a life.

This is completely insane.

Two Canadian inventors Taran Chadha and Jamie Umpherson are the brains behind Blood Sport. They are well-known for gaming-related projects like Shoot the Banker, Surrogaid and Prank House. 
Speaking about Blood Sport, they explained that they're “taking the consequences of the gaming world and having them affect you in real life. So every time you get hit in the game, blood will be intravenously drawn from your arm. Nowadays, most video game controllers rumble when you get shot in the game. That rumbling means that an electrical signal is being sent to the controller to let you know you’ve been hit. All we’re doing is re-routing that same electrical signal and using it to turn on the blood collection system.
(keep reading plus see the video after the cut...)
Before you start playing the game, a medical professional will insert a needle into your veins which is connected to a blood flow controller using two wires and the controller in turn is connected to the blood machine through an Arduino Board--(Arduino Board sends signals to the blood collection system and keeps track of how much blood is being drawn, using pre-entered values of age, weight, and medical conditions. And will stop the machine when the required amount has been collected).  However, a medical professional will  be standing by the whole gaming time to make sure nothing goes wrong.

Taran and Jamie said: “Our goal is to develop a refined, multi-player unit that can be taken across the country for blood donation gaming events. We are not a charity and we are not a game manufacturer. We are simply creating the gaming hardware that will allow us to get gamers thinking about more important issues while still doing what they love.”

Blood Sport is designed to work with all gaming consoles and all types of video games. The launch is set to happen on March 17 in Toronto, next year, during which pledgers need to sign an injury waiver before donating blood.

Unfortunately funding for the project has been suspended, Kickstarter reports. And they’re trying to raise $250,000 CAD (US $222,700). If they’re able to raise the target amount of money, the duo plan to partner with the appropriate organisations in both the gaming and medical field.            
                     

credit: Kickstarter

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