Imagine a game that basis your entire experience on your emotions. If you are cool, calm and collected, the game delivers one type of experience. If you are letting your emotions get the best of you, the game becomes a terrifying trip. While this horror game hasn’t been developed just yet, the next best thing is soon to be upon us. Nevermind is a scary game that takes biofeedback from the player and uses this information to change the game in such a way that you might never play the same game twice.
In Nevermind, players take on the role of a neuroscientist who is able to enter into his patient’s brain and attempt to uncover what has caused the patient’s trauma. The game plays in a first person perspective, with players solving puzzles to beat the games levels. As the player’s heart rate increases, the gameplay takes on a more challenging pace.
Nevermind started its life as a small project by a group of students at USC for a thesis project in 2012. The original university project was led by video game industry veteran, Erin Reynolds, who had made the decision to return to the academic world for further studies. It has since taken off and has become a fully funded game due to a recent announcement of a partnership with Intel. This version of Nevermind will make an intelligent use of the new Intel camera, allowing for a more consumer-friendly way to provide the needed biofeedback that the game requires in order to fully shine. This camera, called the Intel RealSense 3D, is very similar to the current camera options for the Microsoft Xbox One and the Sony PlayStation 4. The Intel camera will be able watch the user and monitor such things as heart rate, skin temperature and other vital signs to let the game adjust itself on the fly. That is one smart game!
And if this isn’t enough to keep you interested in the development and eventual release of Nevermind, then consider this: The technology behind this game is so advanced that it can potentially heal people. Not virtual people. Real living, breathing people. Right now, the game’s creators, Flying Mollusk, are in talks with researchers to develop a version of Nevermind with therapeutic implications. The game will become a tool used in the treatment of such ailments as PTSD, stress, and other mental health issues. According to the team at Flying Mollusk, it is one of the company’s goals to create a platform, such as this, that can have wide implications.
NeverMind has a long road to travel before it is ready for release, and it may be early to jump on the hype train, however this project has so much going for it that we’d be crazy not to “pay some mind” to Nevermind.
