Wii Vitality Sensor detailed, but not directly from Nintendo themselves

Nintendo filed patent reveals just how the missing in action peripheral will work

Many people were a bit shocked to see that the Wii Vitality Sensor has not been shown at either E3 2010 or the recently held Nintendo Conference, however we have been assured by Nintendo that the device is still being developed. Up until now, we’ve not really had a good idea on how the device works, and thanks to a recently filed patent, we have some details.

The Wii Vitality Sensor works by firing infra-red light through your finger, while the other end of the sensor has a photoreceptor that receives this light. A vital component in the blood, Haemoglobin, absorbs varying amounts of infrared light when exposed, and as such the amount of infra-red light received by the photoreceptor at the end of the sensor can be used to determine just how calm and anxious you are based on how fast your blood is flowing. A very sound medical principle, we might add.

Nintendo apparently dubbed this measurement as "Relax Fluid" levels, which is measured over a cardiac cycle and allows players to compare their numbers with other people of a similar age. The concept of relax fluid can be used to measure how stressed a player is before engaging in certain games, while at the end of the game the sensor can detect how things have changed and whether or not the player is more stressed or more relaxed.

The patent briefly speaks about the applications of the Wii Vitality Sensor in a gaming environment, with a simple game involving inhalation and exhalation being used to control the flying height of a character, essentially controlling the player’s breathing patterns to accomodate an uneven surface in a virtual game world. Of course, the sensor would "know" what would happen to blood flow when a player inhales or exhales, so this data can be used to accurately and quickly replicate movements on screen.

It’s certainly an interesting concept, and hopefully we’ll see more of it sometime in the near future. The Wii Vitality Sensor currently has no release date in any regions, and still lacks a proper showing from Nintendo. We hope to hear more soon.