A two-player game where each player swallows a sensor pill that measures their internal body temperature, and they compete by doing tasks that change that temperature. It's an early exploration of what games might look like when the "controller" is literally inside your body.
Abstract
Ingestible sensors, such as capsule endoscopy and medication monitoring pills, are becoming increasingly popular in the medical domain, yet few studies have considered what experiences may be designed around ingestible sensors. We believe such sensors may create novel bodily experiences for players when it comes to digital games. To explore the potential of ingestible sensors for game designers, we designed a two-player game - the "Guts Game" - where the players play against each other by completing a variety of tasks. Each task requires the players to change their own body temperature measured by an ingestible sensor. Through a study of the Guts Game (N=14) that interviewed players about their experience, we derived four design themes: 1) Bodily Awareness, 2) Human-Computer Integration, 3) Agency, and 4) Uncomfortableness. We used the four themes to articulate a set of design strategies that designers can consider when aiming to develop engaging ingestible games.
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Acknowledgements
We thank Kyle Berean and Kourosh Kalantar-Zadeh from RMIT’s School of Engineering for giving us plenty of advice, and we also thank Patrick Baudisch for their support. We also thank everyone who helped with the video and the development and design.
Press coverage
A computer game’s edible controller lets you play it with your gut. New Scientist.
Forget joysticks — the Guts Game is controlled by a sensor that you swallow. Digital Trends.
An edible controller moves gaming from the screen to your gut. Futurism.
The Bizarre New Game You Play By Swallowing A Sensor. Forbes.
This New Game Has an Edible Controller. Bloomberg.
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