Doctors in the US have noticed children [suffering from cystic fibrosis] rarely perform their breathing exercises, preferring to do other things, such as playing computer games – so they combined the two.
Instead of using a hand-held controller or motion sensor, these games rely on a spirometer, which measures how much and how fast air is exhaled.
Breathing is used to drive a car in one racing game and to blow slime off animals in another.
Professor Peter Bingham, from the University of Vermont and Fletcher Allen Health Care, tried the games out on 13 children with cystic fibrosis (CF), aged between eight and 18.
Breathing controls the on-screen action
He said: “The key finding was that children actually use them.
“Spirometer games can be a good way to involve children in respiratory therapy.”
Read the rest at BBC News – Will computer games help children with cystic fibrosis?.
