How The Nintendo Wii and XBox Kinect Games Can Help Physical Therapy

Everyone knows that the two hottest video game systems are the Nintendo Wii and The Xbox 360. What makes the Wii so unique is their motion controllers. Within every game you would have to get up and move yourself in order to proceed which makes it a great system for the family. Recently the Xbox came out with the Kinect to compete against the Wii in the motion department. The difference with the Kinect is that you don't have to rely on the controller to help you guide you through the game. With it's camera and motion sensor combo, each game makes you feel like you right in the game, which would make great family/friends quality time.

But let's say that you could put these two systems to a different use? Yes, you see in the advertisements that these systems are great party systems. But what if these systems could help a person who is in physical therapy? Just think about it. You would need to move around in each game and the goal for a physical therapist is to make sure that a patient gets back on the right track so they can recover nice and fast. What I've seen recently in a nursing home was just that and I thought that it was a great idea.

Since these systems came out, all I ever thought about was how much fun it could be for family and friends. I'd never thought that it could be also use as a tool for therapy. I've seen a therapist trying to teach an elderly how to play Wii Sports and how to swing with the controller. That was amazing and the elderly was very happy to have experienced it. This puts the whole gaming world into a whole new level. Not only for fun, but for healing as well. Sure, the Wii already has the Wii Fit for those who want to keep in shape and the Xbox has a game out that teaches the importance of fitness. Now they can add physical therapy to their already impressive resume.

Also with the Wii and the 360, you could make your own characters to have them look like yourself so to make the patient even more comfortable and have them looking forward to physical therapy, make a character that looks exactly like them. They will not only be impressed, but that will motivate them even more to wanting to do the therapy because I know that for some patients, therapy can be a pain and sometimes it brings down their self esteem because they are so use to wanting to do things for themselves that to have someone to help them just makes them down right cranky.

With the idea of having one of these systems at a physical therapy place or a nursing home will bring the power of motivation to a who new level.