May 23, 2005 14 Comments

How cool is this? A team of researchers at Johns Hopkins, right here in Baltimore, are doing a study with which they intend to show that giving hospitalized kids access to on-line gaming makes them happier. After they prove that they plan to try to make online games available in hospitals across the US.

Naturally, the guys at Penny Arcade are going to help them make that happen.

Did I mention that all of their support has come from private donations and pro-bono work?

They are even making their research available under an open source license.

I love it when technology and compassion come together to make people happier.

EDIT: Note that they aren’t just talking about hooking the kids up with XBox Live. They want to connect kids in hospitals and pediatric centers across the country, and eventually around the world, in a custom-made virtual world tailored to the needs of hospitalized children.

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14 Comments

  1. shangchi May 23, 2005 at 19:13

    Will it be a double-blind experiment, do you think?

    1. avdi May 23, 2005 at 19:17

      I don’t know, but their research protocol is available for perusal.

    2. avdi May 23, 2005 at 19:17

      I don’t know, but their research protocol is available for perusal.

    3. darkpool May 23, 2005 at 20:23

      Yeah, the kids won’t really know if they’re playing video games or not, and neither will the nurses and doctors. 😛

    4. darkpool May 23, 2005 at 20:23

      Yeah, the kids won’t really know if they’re playing video games or not, and neither will the nurses and doctors. 😛

  2. shangchi May 23, 2005 at 19:13

    Will it be a double-blind experiment, do you think?

  3. matrixx May 23, 2005 at 19:34

    Holy shit, wonder when they’ll announce they’re studying the effect of making announcements about things that are TOTALLY OBVIOUS to the American public?

    1. avdi May 23, 2005 at 19:38

      A large chunk of the American public still thinks that video games are what put kids in hospitals.

      You know, ’cause guns don’t kill people, GTA kills people.

      1. matrixx May 23, 2005 at 19:50

        Right, I forgot that Mario is directly to blame for leukemia. Bastard.

      2. matrixx May 23, 2005 at 19:50

        Right, I forgot that Mario is directly to blame for leukemia. Bastard.

    2. avdi May 23, 2005 at 19:38

      A large chunk of the American public still thinks that video games are what put kids in hospitals.

      You know, ’cause guns don’t kill people, GTA kills people.

  4. matrixx May 23, 2005 at 19:34

    Holy shit, wonder when they’ll announce they’re studying the effect of making announcements about things that are TOTALLY OBVIOUS to the American public?

  5. darthcrank May 23, 2005 at 23:31

    which is precisely why our home hospital encourages the continual playing of Runescape.

    What happy and well-adjusted patients we have!

  6. darthcrank May 23, 2005 at 23:31

    which is precisely why our home hospital encourages the continual playing of Runescape.

    What happy and well-adjusted patients we have!

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