NTT stimulates inner ear
ABC News Online (Australia): Electric currents to control game players’ posture:
Japanese telecom giant NTT has succeeded in controlling human posture by applying weak electric currents and is aiming to use the technology to develop realistic simulation games, an official said on Monday.
Researchers have found they can control how human beings position themselves by sticking tiny electrode patches behind the ears, said Minako Sawaki, a planning division official for Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp’s Science and Core Technology Laboratory Group.
The electrodes are connected to a remote control device enabling a weak electric current to be administered to affect the part of the inner ear that controls the sense of balance.
Researchers found they could change the posture of people by manipulating the electric current, which is at an extremely low level, Minako Sawaki said.
NTT hopes to use the technology to develop more realistic games for driving and flight simulation, making players’ bodies lean as they corner or pull gravity inducing turns at the controls.
