a new sensor, new trademark registrations point to another major biofeedback device on the horizon.

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It looks like some clues to where Nintendo is going with its "Vitality sensor" are emerging. The sensor, a pulse oximetry device, speculated to be used primarily for heart rate measurement, has been a bit of a mystery.

Now, a website, Siliconera, has dug up a European trademark application for "WiiRelax." Nintendoworldreport.com, describes the trademark application:

The product's classification in the application contains the typical all-encompassing video game verbage (features such as being able to play the game on a television, control it with a joystick, etc.), but it also reveals some other telling details. It is submitted for classification in the same categories as devices with "pulse-measuring functions", and is further classified alongside "body-fat meters" and "pulsimeters".

Another clue, on youtube, suggests that this sensor will be used by Nintendo to reach the more elusive female gamer market.



The Wii relax will be an addition to the Nintendo family, supplementing the Wii Fit, which is a pressure sensitive balance board.

This is more big news for biofeedback. As Thought Technology VP Lawrence Klein has said, "a rising tide raises all ships." The investment of millions of marketing dollars in promoting a commercial biofeedback video game should translate into increased consumer awareness of the field of biofeedback. That should translate into greater receptivity to professional services delivered by biofeedback providers.

Authors Bio:

One theme has run through my work for the past 40 plus years-- a desire to play a role in waking people up, raising their consciousness and empowering them.
I was the organizer founder of the Winter Brain, Optimal Functioning and Positive Psychology and StoryCon Meetings and president of Futurehealth, Inc., with interests in Positive Psychology as well as being involved in the field of biofeedback/neurofeedback since 1972.
see my more detailed bio, reflecting my work in biofeedback, here.

In 2003 I founded www.OpEdNews.com , where I've written over 1800 articles and have published over 100,000 other people's writings, with the goal of raising people's consciousness in political and activist ways.