Easy Way To Lose Weight

Only in America would someone invent a videogame to help us lose weight.

Hmmm… I thought videogames were part of the lifestyle that caused the obesity epidemic.

Well, maybe part of the problem is about to become part of the solution…

A University of Houston computer science professor, Ioannis Pavlidis, has invented a computer game that lets your game avatar move in real time to your own physical movements.

(Does that description remind anyone else of the Nintendo Wii?)

The games are called NEAT-o, which stands for Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis (yeah, that’s a name only a computer geek could love, but wait ’til you hear how much weight you could lose).

The games can be played on any hand-held personal digital assistant (PDA). Players wear a lightweight sensor that detects movements like walking, running, foot tapping, or bending over.

There are videogames such as races and logic puzzles. The more active the player, the farther and faster the game avatar goes.

The point of the games is to encourage small increases in physical activity which may be easier for people who are just starting to exercise again.

So you take the stairs instead of the elevator, for example, and your avatar reflects those movements in the game.

For once, there may be a computer game addiction that’s healthy.

To encourage the buddy system for working out, you can link to other gamers by cell phone networks. You can compete against multiple players in the same room or even in the next state.

The game is designed to run all day in the background as you go about your activities.

The more active you are—even in small ways like walking to the copy machine—the more points you earn and the more your avatar moves.

But here’s what’s really neat-o (bad pun, I know)…

One of the first computer science students to try NEAT-o lost 40 pounds in 5 months.

Early test groups and a computer science gathering in April also loved the games. More games are being developed to appeal to different age groups.

NEAT-o should be available to the public before the end of 2008.

Technorati Tags: lose weight, weight loss, NEAT-o, computer games, videogames, obesity epidemic

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 19th, 2007 at 12:02 am and is filed under Dieting & Weight Loss. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.