[This unedited press release is made available courtesy of Gamasutra and its partnership with notable game PR-related resource Games Press.]
LOS ANGELES, CA – March 1,
2016 –
Flying Mollusk, the game studio that uses
emerging technology to create entertaining and impactful games,
announced today that it has added support for Affectiva’s
Affdex emotion-sensing technology, Tobii’s EyeX eye-tracking
controller, and (coming soon) Apple Watch to its biofeedback
thriller game,
Nevermind. Available by downloading the latest free update
for Mac and Windows 8.1 or by purchasing the game at a limited time
sale price, the new sensory inputs make the game’s most
unique features accessible to more gamers while deepening the
player experience in innovative and meaningful ways.
Nevermind is a psychological thriller that uses
biofeedback to make the game more surreal and punishing when
players feel scared or nervous. For example, if players cannot
manage their stress or fear, rooms might flood, spikes might jut
out from the floor, or the screen might fill with increasingly
dense static. However, once the biofeedback algorithms determine
that the player has calmed down, the game becomes easier and more
forgiving. This indirectly teaches the player real, applied
techniques that they can use to help manage feelings of stress and
anxiety in their everyday lives.
Apple Watch monitors the player’s pulse and sends a signal
to the game if potential feelings of fear or stress cause the
player’s heart rate to spike. Affectiva’s
emotion-sensing software uses virtually any basic laptop or desktop
webcam to watch the player’s facial expressions for signs of
emotional distress. The Tobii EyeX Controller analyzes the
player’s eye movement to unlock new features in parts of the
game, such as shining a flashlight in the direction a player is
looking or helping the player calm themselves when they close their
eyes.
Each of the new technologies announced today affect the gameplay
in unique ways. Even though any of these devices can be used on
their own, for the ideal gaming experience Flying Mollusk
recommends using a combination of heart rate sensor,
emotion-recognition, and eye-tracking. Existing supported heart
rate sensors include Intel® RealSense™ camera technology,
Wild Divine IomPE, Mio LINK, Garmin Heart Rate Chest Strap, and
others.
“Our goal is to continue pushing the envelope within this
new genre of biofeedback games and to keep finding inventive ways
to integrate sensory inputs into interactive experiences,”
said Erin Reynolds, CEO and Creative Director of Flying Mollusk.
“When played with both Affectiva’s Affdex
emotion-sensing technology and a wearable heart rate sensor,
Nevermind can use both emotional and physiological
data for the most responsive biofeedback experience possible. For
instance, when a heart rate sensor picks up on a change in the
player’s psychological arousal, Affdex can validate whether
it is an increase in negative arousal such as fear or stress or
positive arousal such as excitement or joy and, as a result, react
in the most appropriate manner.”
“Flying Mollusk are true pioneers in emotion-aware gaming.
Using our emotion recognition technology as a game controller,
the
Nevermind game adapts to the player’s facial
expressions in real time, making emotions integral to the game
experience,” said Rana el Kaliouby, Co-founder and Chief
Strategy and Science Officer of Affectiva. “
Nevermind has now demonstrated that emotion-aware
games can be easily accessible to all, by using Affectiva’s
emotion-sensing software that works with any web cam. This is the
next generation of gaming.”
“We were very excited to see all the unique ways Flying
Mollusk has carefully worked our eye-tracking technology into
Nevermind,” said Oscar Werner, president of Tobii
Tech. “This game is yet another example of how the
combination of developer creativity and our groundbreaking
technology can create entirely new, exciting and immersive
experiences in games.”
Availability:
For a limited time,
Nevermind can be downloaded for $15.99 – 20%
off the retail price – from
http://store.steampowered.com/app/34226.
Apple Watch support is coming soon for all Mac and iPhone users.
Apple Watch can be purchased at Apple retail outlets or online
at
http://www.apple.com/watch/ .
Tobii EyeX Controllers are supported for Windows 8.1+ and can be
purchased at
http://www.tobii.com/xperience/ . A live
demonstration of Tobii’s eye-tracking technology in
Nevermind will be available at Tobii’s booth
(booth # 1932) at the Game Developers Conference March 16
– 18.
Affdex is supported for Mac and Windows 7+ and requires only a
basic web cam. A live demonstration of Affectiva’s
emotion-sensing technology in
Nevermind will be available at Affectiva’s
booth (booth # 2405) at the Game Developers Conference March
16 – 18.
To view a video trailer of the game or get other information,
visit the official site at
http://www.nevermindgame.com .
Email:
[email protected]
Product Press Kit:
www.nevermindgame.com/press
Company Website:
www.flyingmollusk.com
Company Press Kit:
www.flyingmollusk.com/press/
About Affectiva
Affectiva, an MIT Media Lab spin-off, is the industry-leader in
emotion-aware technology, the next frontier of artificial
intelligence. Affectiva brings emotional intelligence to the
digital world by measuring and analyzing facial expressions of
emotion. Its patented technology is built on an emotion AI
science platform that uses deep learning and the world’s
largest emotion data repository of nearly 4 million faces analyzed
from 75 countries, amounting to more than 40 billion emotion data
points. Affectiva is used in many different industries to
gather insight and analytics in consumer emotional engagement, and
to emotion-enable apps and digital experiences.
About Tobii
Tobii is the global leader in eye-tracking. Our vision is a
world where all technology works in harmony with natural human
behavior. Tobii operates through three business units: Tobii
Dynavox makes specially designed computers that are controlled by
eye movement or touch screens for use by people with special needs
due to spinal cord injuries, CP, ALS or other medical conditions.
Tobii Pro develops and sells eye-tracking equipment and services
used today by more than 2,000 companies and 1,500 research
institutions, including all of the world’s 50 highest ranked
universities. Tobii Tech further develops Tobii’s technology
for new volume markets such as computer games, personal computers,
virtual reality and vehicles. Tobii is headquartered in Sweden and
is listed on Nasdaq Stockholm (TOBII). The group has approximately
600 employees. For more information, please visit
www.tobii.com .
About Flying Mollusk
Flying Mollusk is a small, independent 4-person studio built to
create entertaining and uniquely impactful games that leverage
emerging technology and leave a lasting impression on those who
play them. Their flagship product,
Nevermind, is a biofeedback-enhanced horror adventure game
that indirectly teaches the player how to manage feelings of stress
and anxiety.
Nevermind represents Flying Mollusk’s vision to
create edgy, engaging and fun games that are both compelling as a
popular “mainstream” title, while also giving back to
the player via existing and emerging technology. For more
information, visit
www.flyingmollusk.com .
All third party trademarks are the copyright of their
respective owners.
# # #
|