PlayStation Move: The Mind-Body Experience

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Hi everyone! I just wanted to give you guys a quick heads-up that I’ll be giving a keynote presentation at the sixth annual Games for Health Conference in Boston next month.

Games for Health Conference, Boston, US

For those of you who aren’t familiar with the Games for Health Conference, it is an event that’s held in partnership with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Pioneer Portfolio, which focuses on funding ideas that may lead to significant breakthroughs in the future of health and health care. The conference creates opportunities to develop innovative solutions that empower individuals to better manage their personal health. I’m honored and excited to take part in the event so I thought I’d give you a sneak peek at some of the things I plan to talk about.

The title of my talk is “The Mind-Body Experience of PlayStation Move – Relationships between Gaming, Play, Exercise, and More.” I plan to discuss the development of PlayStation Move, with a focus on what I call “somatic gratification” (I didn’t coin the term, but I think I’m the first to apply it to video games). In short, I’ll be talking about how the physicality of an interface can connect the body and the mind to really enhance an experience. Sometimes, the interface is only a means to an end, but often, the interface becomes an integral part of the experience. I’ll be analyzing the similarities and differences this has for gaming, for play, and for exercise, and why different interface choices may be appropriate for each domain.

PlayStation Move

I’ll also be talking about the design of PlayStation Move, highlighting why many of the design choices are the way they are. Many of the seemingly arbitrary stylistic choices are not cosmetic; they are actually functionally and ergonomically important. Finally, I’ll share my thoughts about the subtle yet profound differences between a true position-sensing device vs. a motion-sensing device, and describe some of the applications that are enabled as a result of having position information.

If you happen to be attending the event, be sure to say hello. To learn more about the Games for Health Conference, be sure to check out the Games for Health site.

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70 Comments

1 Author Reply

  • i don’t want Health-care game.
    i don’t want a shape game.
    i want some amusing and inspiring game.
    not wii fit or any health-care game, especially when Sony can do some great action game.

  • i don’t want an exercise game neither, this is horrible please, don’t follow that step, don’t let your fan down like Nintendo did

  • Well when all is said and done, all we can hope for is something spectacular. If not then we’ll have another piece of crap that will be added to the pile of peripherals that sony has come out with.

  • Please don’t follow Nintendo, instead make the more developments on the PS Eye. The EyeToy had a lot of potential.

  • You guys realize this and the PS eye work together right? That is unless they changed their planning from the videos I watched from the PS store. My suggestion if you don’t like the games their releasing go to school learn how to make video games…and make some video games!

  • All you guys saying don’t follow Nintendo needs to grow up… I’m not 100% fan of Sony for what they did to the update 3.21 taking away my Linux BUT this PS Move is a good approach to create similar software for the PS3. I know some games on the Wii gets tiring with the Wii remote but it did open up new ways to play games and I’m all for it. Also if it helps some people health wise it’s a good thing. At least unlike Nintendo you can use the regular controller for all other games, this is just another option to enjoy other games.

    …Aside from fixing Linux support… wondering if you say have 2 PS Move’s do you need 2 PS eye??? can 1 track multiple players?

  • Hi,

    I’m the person who invited Richard to speak and I just want to make clear…

    The idea isn’t to make one game vs. another. It’s to talk about how all sorts of games can be used to help people with various needs be it having fun, or healing from injury, or staying in shape, etc. Sony has made some great exergames like Kinetic and even many of their fun EyeToy games are used by people helping others recover from injury. There are lots of regular off-the-shelf games being used to help in health including efforts to help soldiers with brain injuries, autistic children, and much more. No one healing from injury or trying to lose weight wants bad or boring games either.

    I don’t think anyone has to worry too much that Sony’s about to make a game as boring as a stay in the hospital but I do think we should be interested in using all the tools companies like Sony and others create for everything we can… Sony Move has incredible potential and we’re honored they’re coming to share their insights. Don’t worry we’ll send Richard back in one-piece ready to make lots of great games and new interfaces for everyone.

    Thanks everyone for their interest.

    Ben Sawyer
    http://www.gamesforhealth.org

    • Hi all. This talk won’t be about Sony making a fitness game or any particular game for that matter. It’s a study into how interfaces affect the experience and how physical interfaces in particular represent an opportunity for a deeper experience in some cases.

      I think it’s useful to look at the domains of gaming and play and exercise and see what works and what doesn’t in each domain. The term ‘exercise’ seems to be a hot-button for some people, maybe because it brings up images of repetition and tedium. For some of the new physical experiences we want to enable, it’s actually important to make sure we don’t overtax people physically and the exercise experts have studied that subject very carefully. With respect to ‘play’, the free-form spatial nature of new interfaces offers a great potential for new experiences that could be very rewarding if done right.

      One of my roles in R&D is to think about the potential impact of our technologies beyond our immediate application. I’ll be very happy if our technology can be leveraged by others, and I think the Games for Health conference is a great place for those ideas to be explored.

  • Any Motion game has inherently some degree of exercise, and that would be good for your health, so i think that this is part of the presentation, it doesn’t mean that we wouldn’t see exercise games,

    I think there would be games for everyone if you don’t like exercise games don’t buy it that’s all.

    Congratulations Richard and all research and development staff at Sony, Playstation Move seems to be a very precise device, i can’t wait to try it out.

  • Any chance that a video of the keynote will be put up online somewhere, maybe here on the blog?

  • After checking out the Move in person at the Boston event, I can’t wait for its release! I was blown away

  • Im actually looking forward to this…

  • @9: Yes, that would be a great idea & I’m hoping that Sony will let us view such a video.

    Good luck at the conference, Dr. Marks!

    I can hardly wait to try out the Playstation Move. Hopefully the NYC Sony Store will have the Playstation Move on display this autumn.

  • This is all fine and dandy but Sony needs to come out with some sort of price point & better details real soon. They are showing people using a PSeye, 2 PSMove controllers and a sub controller. If they’re only selling one move controller in these bundles and the bundles are 80-90 bucks each they’re going to price this peripheral right out of the market. Are you going to have a bundle with TWO move controllers? Am I going to have to buy a bundle w/ a PSEye when I already own a PSEye? What’s the deal?

  • Interesting … will this be webcast? I am interested in your presentation and this conference in general.

  • Will there be video or powerpoint slides of the talk made avaialble at the gamesforhealth website after the talk?

  • Eh, we don’t want a Wii Fit clone/knock-off. Give us PlayStation® Move usable with third person shooters like SOCOM 4 and Warhawk, or platform games like LittleBigPLanet.

  • PS3 is becoming a Wii.

    Sad face. :(

  • I WANT PLAYSTATION BACK!
    NOT NINTENDO OR WII!

    I WANT PLAYSTATION TO BE PLAYSTATION!!

    I DON’T WANT ANOTHER WII!
    SONY THIS WILL NOT BE A WAY TO WIN AGAINST THE 360 OR HIS NATAL!
    SERIOUSLY I’M A MOD DESIGNER AND I KNOW WHAT I AM SAYING!

  • We can’t webcast it likely (hotel bandwidth is EXPENSIVE) but we’ll work to record it and post it online.

    For my $.02 what I want is a great hack’n’slash RPG… not just mini-games but a real level up with different weapons, etc. but Sony Move as the interface…

    – Ben Sawyer

  • WE DON’T WANT TO SEE THE PS3 MAIN PICTURE AS A NINTENDO!
    WE WANT THE PS3 TO MAKE US REMEMBER WHAT WAS THE PS1,PS2 AND THE PSP, THIS IS HOW THE TRUE SONY COMPUTER ENTERTAINMENT IS!
    WE DON’T WANT SONY STUDIO TO WASTE OVER IT!
    AND IF YOU ARE LETTING US DOWN LIKE IT SONY I WILL GO TO THE 360 AND PC T_T

  • HELL NO THE 360 IS A PAIN IN THE ASS

  • THIS WILL NOT BE THE WAY THE MOVE WOULD BE SUCCESSFUL NEITHER

  • lol, whinners couch potatoes. so funny whining about this.

  • so they’ll be developing games with health-conscious interfaces? I can’t tell you how many interfaces stress me out!

  • isn’t the motto of ps3 does everything? this is a great idea.

  • this is stupid its a wii knock off if sony wanted to do something another console has then go after xbox and the natal project i love my ps3 but when natal comes out i’ll have it no questions ask its gonna make gaming amazing move is just a sad follow up to wii and i think sony has made a bad move comin out with MOVE. i cant back the sony MOVE its not original sony was just a little to late on MOVE.

  • 27@ Move has nothing to do with the wiimote it’s just a power up and sony’s own

  • Cool. Playstation Move looks SWeet.

  • The sky is falling, the sky is falling!

    Seriously though, it’s great to hear sony using the Move for things beyond gaming.

  • I just thought of this slogan:

    It only does: Rehabilitation lol

  • Nice. I saw Dr. Marks at the Move meet-up in Boston. He seems like a cool dude who knows his stuff. It’s ironic to see that he will be back in Boston so soon.

  • cant wait for move! playstation really is.. EVERYTHING!

  • sup Dr Marks, i meet u in NYC’S Meet up, i was the one who stood out, lol or should i say “sat” out lol.

  • now thats pretty sik

  • Nice. Very interested in the application of Move technology. I hope this blows up even more than the Wii.

  • I just hope you have better titles supporting move announced at E3… like Killzone 3, Resistance 3, Motorstorm 3, …. and you guys better have an announcement for Infamous 2!

  • So the controller isn’t even out and they’re already talking about making workout/exercise games?

  • i can’t wait to play ping pong:)lol

  • @39 Eventhough Killzone 3 is to be in the making, they comfirmed it will not be shown at E3. But hey, E3 isn’t here yet. Anything could happen.

  • I don’t care about Move, Natal or any other motion senor game crap the stuff sucks has major limitations and is a joke video games are meant to be played with real controllers not controllers that you wave around.

  • I love my Wii!
    I love my PS3!
    So, i’ll love this MOVE!
    Imagine the feeling using a “SMG” or “M-16” real looking guns style including the PS3 MOVE(similar to wii crossbow)! Now imagine this Online, aiming at ur friends and foes on your 1080p 50inch LCD TV on any FPS games you own!!!

    MOVE is the future for all kind of games and all derivative accessories industries

    I’m dreaming about “Modding” my stock PS3 guns accessories cover style like a “AK-47”, “M-5”, and adding a “Scope” to Zoom Bigger on my 50″… lol XDD

    PS. dont forget to make it compatible for F.E.A.R.2 and ALL FPS games ^^
    thanks in advance!! :P

  • I plan to get the move if more game developers like media molecule make unique games designed for use with the Move, and that aren’t just the typical shovel-ware games.

    that being said, the announced pricing for the move will not be able to entice families that like the wii, since at the end of the day the PS3 with the move bundle will be $400+; twice as pricey as the Wii.

    Sony, if you want to be enticing families and children and the people who don’t play video games on a regular basis, you need to lower your price or create a ps3 bundle with the move priced at around $350 or less in order to even hope to appeal to that audience. As a hardcore gamer, i support the move and i am willing to pay the price since i already have a PS Eye and a ps3 to play the games and the move on. however the casual market who don’t own a ps3 won’t be interested in the move if they don’t have some incentive to get the move, and most likely the more casual market won’t be very interested in things like blueray or HD gaming. So please sony, you need to be a bit more lenient in your pricing if you want any hope to catch up with Nintendo (or for that matter Microsoft.)

  • Those hands are perfect….

  • Sounds very interesting. Thanks for sharing!

  • Please do this ignore the comments from these trolls we kids these day need exercise most of america are over weight i don’t mind if you make an exercise games or sword play games we americans need the exercise were to obese

  • I’m in the UK and cannot go, but I look forward to hearing about the design points you mentioned.

  • OH MY GOD!!! to all the people that hates PS MOVE specially to those keep comparing it to the Wii freakin’ remote …… JUST FREAKN’ DEAL WITH IT!! Y’ALL LOSERS THAT KEEPS WHINNING ABOUT SONY AND WII RIP-OFF THINGS, AND HAVING A FIT OR EXERCISE GAMES!!…… IT FOR Y’ALL FREAK’ GOD FOR SAKEN’ HEALTH!!…… GOD!!…… why wont y’all losers stand up and have a lil sweat in your lives, not that sweat that is collected under your bellies and armpits from all the sittings in the couch…… and to those that LOVED the MOVE specially me, y’all cool, and for those people hate the idea of the PS MOVE, your lost………. to SONY AND IT’S STUFFS THAT DEVELOPED THE MOVE, YOU GUYS CREATED AN AWESOME JOB, can’t wait for the MOVE……….

  • i don’t like that Sony is forcing us to buy 2 sets of the PlayStation move, what if i buy one set and i’d like to play the sword fighting game? can’t do it with one set that’s for sure.
    could you not add another glowing orb on the navigator controller?
    i’m tired of being a Sony puppet, i’m tired of begging for features, i’m tired of waiting on sony to give us what we have been asking for 3 years now, this will be my last console i ever purchase,i really don’t care if ps4 does holographic hd3d i’ll stick to the good old reliable and upgradeable PC.

  • I have to say I was impressed with Sony’s competition when they started releasing family exercise games, being a person who’s into fitness I’m interested to see what Sony can bring to the table. I would also like to see some tools to actually teach users real life skills, as a simple example correct form in boxing or fencing techniques, perhaps introduce those sports to people who otherwise don’t have any access to training resources. While I think the casual market is important, I’d also like to see “hardcore” fitness applications. Good luck at the conference

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