Researchers there have been using motion-sensing technology to help evaluate seniors’ risk for falls for years, but they’ve recently expanded to giving Microsoft’s Kinect sensor a try — the Kinect sensor only produces silhouette images, rather than an identifiable image, which alleviates some patients’ fears.

The sensors have been put into use at TigerPlace, an independent living community in Columbia, Mo., and they’re currently used to monitor behavior and routine changes in patients who live there.

Researchers are also investigating the usage of Doppler radar sensors for the same ultimate goal: monitoring increased risk of falls. Each body part on a human creates its own Doppler “signature,” and the device can detect a fall based on the “signature” motions.

“Falls are especially dangerous for older adults and if they don’t get help immediately, the chances of serious injury or death are increased,” said Liang Liu, MU doctoral student. “If emergency personnel are informed about a fall right away, it can significantly improve the outcome for the injured patient.”

Both systems provide automatic alerts to health care personnel, and residents at TigerPlace know that their falls may be detected early, helping them maintain their independence.

Watch the video below to learn more!

MU Researchers Use New Video Gaming Technology to Detect Illness, Prevent Falls in Older Adults from MU News Bureau on Vimeo.

Calorie Count App features:
* An easy-to-use dashboard with graphics
* A comprehensive nutritional analyses of food consumption & daily targets
* The ability to quickly search and easily log more than 100,000 food items.
* Tools to view current and past food, activity and weight logs including a graph of your weight history.
* Over 150 low-calorie recipes from About.com (www.about.com), selected by Calorie Count’s registered dietitian
* Access to Calorie Count’s daily blog (www.caloriecount.com/blog) to help users stay motivated and informed.
* The ability to record daily weight, and view charts and graphs to measure your body’s progress
* Automatic updates of information logged on Calorie Count member accounts through a computer or the iPhone
* An offline mode that allows members to view recent logs, view and re-log favorites, and input their weight without an Internet connection.

“Our new application is the About Group’s first ever iPhone and iPod touch application. It provides Calorie Count members with a convenient and fun way to manage their diet and weight while they are mobile,” said Cella Irvine, president and CEO, the About Group. “We are also excited to introduce Calorie Count to the millions of iPhone and iPod touch users, who may be looking for a robust, yet free system to help reach their weight goals.”

The Calorie Count App is now available for free from the App Store on iPhone and iPod Touch.

Platform

BUY

NewU Fitness First Personal Trainer Official Website – Australia

We all know the stigma that is floating around cyberspace when it comes to fitness “games” and the Wii – that the Wii is being marketed to women, and using fitness as bait is the way they are doing it. While this may be true, the added opinion that the console itself is for women is something I highly disagree with. Besides, both genders need to stay fit somehow, and people seem to have forgotten that the other consoles have had a stab at it at some point.

NewU Fitness First Personal Trainer is one of the most recent productions for the Wii. It has been developed in conjunction with trainers and dieticians, and the gym franchise Fitness First. While it is another fitness release, there are significant and impressive differences that helps it stand out from the pack.

When you first start it up, you need to enter your name, build, how active you are, Date of Birth, unit of measurement preference, height, whether you’re left or right handed, Dietary Preferences, Primary Goal, Secondary Goal, Trainer, Location, and then you confirm the details.

When you get to choose how active you are, your choices include no exercise, moderate exercise, and exercise is my life (my words, not theirs). A word of advice when it comes to entering your height – get it right the first time because you can’t edit it later!

With the Dietary Preferences you choose what you can or can’t eat, and this helps the game tailor eating plans for you. So since you’re only able to choose between Pork, Beef, Lamb, Poultry, Fish, Shellfish, Eggs, Dairy, Gluten and Nuts, if you were allergic to any of these (or a vegetarian) you would deselect those you couldn’t eat.

Straight after that you need to pick goals for your fitness mission – your Primary Goals and Secondary Goals. There are 5 groups from which you can pick your Primary Goal – General Health, Flexibility, Occasions, Sports, and Shape. Some examples from within those groups include Weight Loss, Yoga, New Mum, Golf Fit and Bums Legs Tums.

For your Secondary Goal the choices are the same, so if you wanted to choose Weight Loss as your Primary but you also wanted to be Golf Fit then you could choose it at this point. If you change your mind later down the track, or if you feel you’ve accomplished your goal, you can change the choices you originally made.

Next you get to pick your Drill Sergeant, or “Trainer”. You choose 1 out of 4 trainers  (2 men and 2 women) who will show you how to perform your exercises and give you encouragement along the way. You also get to change your choice of trainer if you so wish. Once you’ve done that, you need to pick a Location – choose between a Tropical Beach, Alpine Mountains, Forest Meadows, or the Health Club.

After you’ve confirmed your details it will then ask you to turn on your Wii Balance Board so that it can weigh you. If you don’t have a Balance Board you can select cancel and you will then be asked to manually enter your weight. Once that’s done, you’re right to get started on the new you!

You are now met with a menu that allows you to get straight into your workout. Your choices are My Plan, Express Workout, Challenges, Profiles and Options.

My Plan is shown in the picture above. You can view the workout exercises which you will be doing today, or have a look at tomorrows. You can also view your meals for the whole week, as well as today and tomorrow, and it will even produce a shopping list for you. It also includes recipes so that you can follow the eating plan to the letter, and you can download and/or print them from the NewU website. You can also access your progress, and read some informative Lifestyle Tips.

In the Express Workout menu, you have 4 choices: Quick Workout, Before Work, Lunch Break, Evening. This just gives you quick access to a workout session – there doesn’t appear to be anything different about these workouts compared to those you find in the My Plan menu. The other thing in this menu is the access to a recipe in the last 3 choices where you will get a Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner meal to look at. These recipes are not the same as the ones in your meal plan though.

Challenges allows you to test yourself if you think you’re up to it. You can choose from Dance, Cardio Test, Army, Boxing or Football. I personally haven’t given these a proper go but they appear to be pretty tough. I would suggest that you give these a go if you have plenty of time, and if you think you are able to attempt the more advanced exercises.

In the Profile menu you are able to select another profile (if there is another set up), edit your profile, create a new profile, or delete a profile. As I mentioned earlier, you can’t edit your height, but you can edit your dietary choices as well as a few other details.

The Options menu allows you to access Settings, Workout Location, Trainer, My Weight and Credits. If you use your Wii Balance Board to weigh yourself when you first create your profile then the My Weight option is known as Diagnostics instead. With the Workout Location and Trainer options you are able to change your original choices. Be aware that the trainers may irritate you, and if they do you can go to the Settings menu and turn the voice volume down and the subtitles on instead.

Time for my final verdict! Having tried both Wii Fit and EA Sports Active already, my expectations weren’t exactly set high. I was pleasantly surprised, and I was happy to have found something that covered diet as well as exercise the way NewU Fitness First Personal Trainer has. I was also happy to start an exercise program that eased you into working out, instead of one that left you breathless and feeling like you were Goldie Hawn in Private Benjamin.

I think this is a worthwhile addition to your fitness collection, whether you have or haven’t started one yet. Be prepared to discover some yummy recipes that you will want to try right now, and exercises that are suited to whatever it is that you are aiming for.

Review product was provided by All Interactive Entertainment, and does not affect the outcome of this review.

The Beatles: Rock Band is doing more than providing entertainment to gamers worldwide, it’s also raising money for charity. Benefiting charities with the download of the exclusive Xbox Live track, “All You Need is Love” and the auction for the limited edition “The Beatles: Rock Band” Xbox 360 console. The consoles had over 110 bids from around the globe raising $17,300.

With the $17,300 raised from the console, Doctors Without Borders will be able to buy equipment to carry out 86,500 immunizations and purchase emergency kits for more than 2,800 people.

“We are thrilled over the contributions to us so far from downloads of ‘All You Need Is Love,’ and from the auction of the beautiful, one-of-a-kind Xbox console,” said Dr. Matt Spitzer, president of the board of directors of Doctors Without Borders. “We are incredibly grateful for having been selected as the beneficiary of this promotion. Funds generated from initiatives such as this can go a long way,” he added. “Severely malnourished children will be treated, people displaced by war will receive life-saving medical care, and people living with HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and other neglected diseases will have access to the medicines they need. On behalf of our patients, Doctors Without Borders says ‘Thank You.’”

“All You Need Is Love” track broke records for being the fastest selling downloadable song in Rock Band history. As a bonus, continuing through December 9, players who download the track for 160 MS points will be registered in the “The Beatles: Rock Band” Download and Win sweepstakes to have a chance to win a limited edition “The Beatles Rock Band” 360 Consoles and a Rickenbacker 325 replica guitar controller. Read about the contest here.

The fitness craze for Wii certainly isn’t over, and we should all know a bit about the NewU Fitness First Personal Trainer “game” by now.

The launch date for this title is the 17th of September in Australia (which is today) – but if you haven’t heard about it, here’s what you need to know!

NewU Fitness First Personal Trainer allows you to setup your own profile and set your own personal goals no matter what your age, gender, height or physical activity level is. You can choose between 4 goals: Sport, Shape, General Health and Special Occasions. NewU has 84 different exercises, and when you combine them with the 50 different goals available you have a total of over 900 possible workouts!

When you begin your profile, NewU will ask you to select a primary goal and an optional secondary goal. This helps the program to construct a personalized fitness and nutrition plan based on your choices. You then get to pick a personal trainer and a training location where you want your session to take place. There are also ways of telling you how well you are carrying out the exercises, which are:

• Traffic light system – green = good, red = try harder
• Timing bar at the top of screen – with audio pips and coloured sections
• Vocal encouragement direct from your trainer

You can also get a preview of the workouts you will carry out in the next day or week by going to the fitness section. But if you’re pressed for time, there are also short workouts available. However if you’re game, you can try out one of the 5 trials designed to push your limitations – including an Army fitness test!

NewU Fitness First Personal Trainer is a publication from Black Bean Games.  It has been made in conjunction with advice from personal trainers at the world’s largest gym franchise, Fitness First. It’s available on Nintendo Wii today in Australia, priced at $99.95AUS and can be found at Kmart, JB HiFi, Dick Smith, Harvey Norman, EB Games and other major retailers.

(Source: All Interactive Entertainment, Australia)

“NewU Fitness First Personal Trainer” is not just about the fitness – it is also about having a healthy eating plan. The game has a user friendly healthy eating program that has been developed by nutritional experts of a well known UK TV show and book range.

Carina Norris, Journalist, MSc (Dist) Public Health Nutrition:

“Creating NewU Fitness First Personal Trainer we have thought about an easy and fair approach, instead of a demeaning or an un-motivating one. You will never find references to calories but you will have the guidelines to take control of your eating and enjoy the rewards of a healthier and happier life”

The game includes 138 recipes, which is equal to 20 weeks worth of meals. It also caters to those of us who rely on a special diet, for example if you are a vegetarian you can unselect all of the meat groups when you are creating your profile!

There are five meal options – breakfast, snack, lunch, dinner & desert. With these you can select from two options, one of them being that you can have all of the ingredients and preparation steps displayed. You can also set up an entire weeks worth of recipes to follow! Additionally, if you set up your profile on the NewU website you can access the recipes and other useful functions connected with your nutritional plan.

The intention is that with these recipes you will have the perfect balance between nutrition and exercise, and well on the way to the “NewU” that you are seeking.

Here is an official trailer (credit to GamespotAU for the video):

Black Bean Games and Ubisoft Entertainment S.A. have come to a new agreement in regards to the fitness release “NewU Fitness First Personal Trainer“.

Ubisoft has agreed to publish and distribute the title in all PAL territories excluding Italy, New Zealand and Australia. Black Bean Games has retained the rights to publishing the release in Australia and New Zealand with their partner All Interactive Entertainment.

“NewU Fitness First Personal Trainer” is a development by Lightning Fish in collaboration with Fitness First and You Are What You Eat^TM. It’s a fitness training program that focuses on giving you a balance between professionally developed workouts and a healthy eating plan based on your eating preferences.

The first release in the NewU range will make it’s way to Nintendo Wii^TM in September.

PETA Test on the Breasts, not the rest

PETA is venturing out into the game space again to send out their newest message. PETA2, the youth division, has teamed up with youth breast cancer awareness charity Keep A Breast, in an effort to fight breast cancer without killing animals for medical testing.

Through that partnership, the game Test on the Breast, Not the Rest was born. In the game, visitors click on the girls in bikinis that show up and not on the pets or fruit that show up.

Throughout the site there are messages about animal testing and a link to Keep A Breast.org.The organization has been visiting various Vans Warped Tour stops to meet with concert goers and inform them on how to do a checkup.

Salt Studio Saltasia has created salt rooms styled in a honeycomb manner to cater to promote anti-aging and relaxation to women. The salt tiles create a honeycomb like environment. In the background plays relaxing music. Basically you sit there and de-stress.

Personally being in a room with four white walls would actually drive me crazy. Not help me get to a calm state. It’s not a sauna, so it doesn’t get warm, but I would rather be on a massage table in a candlelight room any day.

This type of meditation doesn’t come cheap either. Women pay fees to join the club of $1,000 to $25,000 and then pay $250 to $2,200 per month for four sessions.

I can name quite a few things that will relax me for that price. Including trips to Hawaii or anywhere a cabana boy can serve me drinks. Do you think this kindof treatment could help you relax?

[source Trends in Japan]