The release date for the Wii Vitality Sensor is officially 2010, “not too late” into next year, to be more specific.
This according to Nintendo head honcho Satoru Iwata, who recently did an investor interview that was posted in English for us Nintendo fans by the company.
The Vitality Sensor was briefly unveiled for the first time at E3 2009, although it didn’t have any kind of product attached. The device is a fingertip pulse oximeter sensor that connects through the Wii Remote and can sense the user’s pulse. As well as sense a number of other signals being transmitted by your bodies. It will then provide information to the user “about the body’s inner world.” As stated by Nintendo back at E3.
Iwata says that they will use the Vitality Sensor to create a new kind of “relaxation game experience.” They are no doubt trying to create the next casual-friendly “Wii Fit”.
“Traditionally, great games has made people excited and stimulated. Wii Vitality Sensor has great potential for various applications like measuring how horrified a player is in a horror title. What we are trying to propose first is a video game with a theme of relaxation, which is completely opposite from traditional ones, to enrich the users’ lives. Especially among those who are constantly busy, I am sure you have experienced not being able to go to bed even when you are so tired after a busy day at work and coming home late at night… What if you were able to visualize how to unwind and relax, or check the condition of your automatic nerve by simply inserting your finger in the device once a day?”
“We are conducting some tests internally at Nintendo, and found some patterns among our employees, like improving automatic nerve condition as the weekend nears or vice versa. Seeing what their condition is actually like, they can ‘visualize’ how they are looking forward to weekend. And see completely different patterns on each individual person.”
Via Nintendo