Games for Life is a UK company providing a range of ‘mind-controlled’, brain-training computer games for children that are not only educational but can help to tackle the symptoms of attention-related disabilities.
While at university, Director Ian Glasscock – specialist in psychology and cognitive neuroscience – researched technologies that could sense human sensory activity. Fascinated by the monitoring of brain activity, he discovered that certain technologies were actually capable of improving attention spans and, working with his daughter to test the effects of these technologies, Games for Life was born in June 2008.
The games themselves involve a headpiece, which is fitted with sensors in order to non-invasively monitor electrical activity in the brain, linked to a computer. When the wearer is completely focused, characters within educational game will move effectively to complete various tasks – however, whenever concentration is lost, the characters will simply stop.
“It’s the same premise as physical exercise,’ explains Ian. “This really is ‘brain-training’. Other brain-training technologies out there don’t necessarily require the user to be focused. You can use them whilst listening to music, or while the TV is on in the background. But when playing our games, the child really has to concentrate properly, and this is what can help to improve the symptoms of attention-related disorders.”
In July this year, Games for Life completed a study with Hertfordshire County Council schools. The results (which are to be released very shortly) were positive, showing that pupils experienced a reduction in the symptoms of attention-deficit disorders, and Ian hopes that parents and educators will become increasingly aware of technologies that can provide a non-medical solution to these learning disabilities.
“What’s frustrating for me is that parents visit my lab on a weekly basis, unaware that technology can offer a non-medical alternative to their child’s condition,” he explains, conscious that some parents and children would rather not take medication. “They don’t realise that there are alternatives. But what inspires me is using pioneering technology to provide a real-life, real-world solution.”
For Ian, TechnologyWorld09 has not only been a chance to see what innovations are taking place in the UK, but also what government-related support infrastructures are available to growing UK technology companies. “We’ve found them to be extremely supportive,” he explains. “It’s a chance to speak to someone who knows more than I do about business support.”
Tags: education, technology, TechnologyWorld09, TW09, Uk Business
