A screenshot from the cigarette-crushing game

Smokers who regularly play a computer game that involves crushing virtual cigarettes could have a better chance of kicking the habit. At least, that's the implication of an experiment carried out by researchers at the University of Quebec in Canada and published in the latest issue of CyberPsychology and Behavior.

Virtual reality has been used to treat a variety of disorders including phantom limb syndrome, arachnophobia, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and even the pain experienced by burn victims.

In the University of Quebec study, 91 smokers played either the cigarette-crushing game or a ball-grasping game via a motion-tracking, head-mounted display over 3 months. In each game, players wandered around a medieval castle and used a virtual arm (controlled by a wireless game pad) to either find and crush floating cigarettes or grasp virtual balls. At the end of the three months, 15% of those in the cigarette-crushing group said they had cut down on smoking (as measured by carbon monoxide levels in an exhale test), compared to 2% of the ball-grasping group.

Aside from better smoking abstinence, those who played the cigarette-crushing game also reported having lower nicotine cravings.

The researchers speculate that crushing virtual cigarettes may help smokers feel more confident about quitting. The game may have also help players associate crushing cigarettes with the feeling of winning.

It would be interesting to know if a regular video game would have a similar effect, or if a more immersive virtual reality experience is crucial.

Teenage boys, especially those with emotional problems, aren't the most receptive group when it comes to therapy. So Jason Kahn, a researcher at Children's Hospital Boston, and Peter Ducharme, a clinical social worker also at Children's, have developed a Space Invaders-like video game that they hope will help engage their adolescent patients in therapy. "This changes the perception of therapy because it's about playing games," said Ducharme, who presented the research at the Future of Health Technology conference at MIT earlier this week.

The game, in which players shoot down alien invaders while avoiding friendly ships, is rigged to a heart-rate monitor worn by the player. If the player's heart rate goes too high during the game, the game becomes more difficult to control. In response, the player then employs relaxation techniques previously learned in therapy within the context of the game, slowing their heart rate and calming them down. "The idea is to create a mildly stressful situation where the player must regulate his response," said Kahn. "Hopefully that ability to exert control will expand to other situations."

Readybot operates autonomously or through remote control. (Courtesy of Readybot)

Readybot, a research group that last year released videos of a simple prototype cleaning robot, has revealed that the robot is managed through a combination of cloud-based software and skilled remote teleoperators.

The company's Cloud Robotics Collaborative Control (CRCC) system monitors a semi-autonomous robot via a broadband connection. When faced with a particularly tricky task, such as opening a cabinet door, the robot will send a request for a human supervisor to step in and take over. The human operator does this by selecting or refining one of several prepared code of instructions ("scripts") or writing new ones, according to Readybot's director, Tom Benson. The CRCC system is designed to let a single user supervise a large team of robots.

"This has the potential to deploy large quantities of robots much sooner, because they're cheaper and because you aren't required to build high levels of autonomy," Benson said. "It's much more forgiving in the sense of allowing you to have less sophisticated systems and still do the job." Benson says that Readybots would be best suited for applications like home assist or manual labor.

Using a regular mouse and monitor, a user can switch between 3D simulations of different robots (with a video feed showing the bot's environment) and can swap between supervising and taking completely control of a robot. Currently, the software can control a single prototype Readybot and up to nine virtual robots.

The company says it took inspiration from video gamers by examining how people playing World of Warcraft, The Sims, and other games and designing the system based on those observations. Gamers who tested out Readybot's operating software were able to operate it quickly and efficiently, according to the group. People who have played a lot of video games "can manage large amounts of remote devices and can think in that way," says Benson. "They are capable of managing vast amounts of multitasking."

Courtesy of Readybot

So far, Readybot can clear a kitchen table, load a dishwasher, transport objects, paint walls, and clean and dry surfaces. The group is currently looking for partners to build more prototypes and to expand the capabilities of CRCC.