Video games go to the hospital
12/13/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Lacrosse
Of the Morning Call
Four-year old Liam Henry buried his head in his mother’s shoulder Monday, the day after he was admitted to St. Luke’s Hospital-Fountain Hill.
“I don’t like NBA games,” he complained.
“What about fast cars?” his mother asked.
“Fast cars?” he said, raising his head. “I like fast cars.”
Liam sat in front of St. Luke’s Hospital’s newest gadgets intended to beat the doldrums of hospital stays: video games. Liam and other pediatric patients are able to choose from five games in a cutting-edge video game system developed by
While the hospital has older video games, the students developed the programming to put it all on a personal computer that sits on a cart and can be wheeled from room to room.
Instead of manipulating wires and a bulky console, the patients can use wireless controls and play games from the comfort of a bed. The fully integrated system contains popular games such as NBA 2K5, Madden NFL and Harry Potter.
Daniel Norelli, a Lehigh senior, said the project was worth it after seeing the patients’ appreciative faces.
“I had knee surgery last year, and I couldn’t stand being in bed all day,” Norelli said. “I can’t imagine how some kids do it.”
The system began as a class project of three Lehigh students: Michael McConnell and brothers Daniel and Michael Norelli.
They originally wanted to develop a way to lessen the beer foam they got from beer taps. But after some research at a local bar, they decided to do something more worthwhile.
They talked with Natalie Miller, co-owner of Loopers Grille & Bar in
The students say they received an “A” for the design of the system, and decided to continue the project on their own and constructed it.
Since then, the students received donations from EA Games of California for the video games and from JACO Inc. of
Two of the students – McConnell and Michael Norelli – have graduated and Colin Mistele, a Lehigh junior has since joined the project to spearhead the programming. The prototype was recently submitted to the National Collegiate Innovators Alliance conference.
Charlotte Becker,
Stephen Link,
“This sort of distraction or entertainment is a lot of help,” Link said.
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This story originally appeared in the Tuesday, December 13 edition of The Morning Call. Used with permission.
