From kotaku.com:

Attention, Wal-Mart shoppers: the mega retailer is currently doing massive reductions on women’s self-esteem, moving the Wii Fit advertising kiosks from the electronics department to women’s clothing. A diabolical tactic!

Yes, that’s a full length body mirror adjacent to the Wii Fit kiosk, a deviously placed hint that’s not so subtly telling Wal-Mart shoppers "Hey, time to put the Oreo Double Stufs down and get some Wii Fit yoga done, chubs."

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From itexaminer.com:

Intelligence Gaming has designed a unique, immersive cultural simulation (ICS) project used to train US troops deployed overseas.

The ICS is based on RealityV and is powered by a customised Adobe Flash Player 10 capable of running on multiple platforms, or in enhanced mode with a head-mounted display. The ICS project, which offers 360-degrees of video and eight binaural audio channels, allows users to interact with actors recorded in high-definition digital media. Trainees navigating their virtual environment are able to fully observe live action content that influences decision making in the field. Indeed, ICS tracks even the slightest movements and accurately renders perspective-correct audio and video to the head-mounted display.

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From ign.com:

Ever since the self-improvement genre found its place on DS back in 2006 with Brain Age, we’ve seen countless developers try to tap into the same market. Most prevalently, Ubisoft’s "My Coach" series. They have been pumping them out since late 2007, and have now released no fewer than a dozen titles in as many months. Covering everything from vocabulary to weight loss to dog care, Ubisoft provides us with just about everything we need to become balanced, cultured, healthy individuals in our everyday lives. Now that all the important knowledge is out of the way, Ubisoft can start teaching us about all the useless junk that’s left over, this time partnering with Powerhead games to bring us My Fun Facts Coach on the DS. Finally, our lives are complete.

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From gaming.hexus.net:

Imagine if you will, a highly competitive online sporting arena, a virtual world open twenty four hours a day where thousands of gamers compete to become the world’s number one in different sports, gaining real fans along the way, attracting the eyes of real-world sponsors and becoming real stars in the gaming arena. This is the ambitious vision of French Developer F4 and Swiss developer Infront Sports & Media who are both hoping that their new game, Empire of Sports (the world’s first MMORPG based around the world of sport) will appeal to the naturally competitive nature of gamers and really get our adrenaline pumping upon its release later this year.

The concept of Empire of Sports is indeed a bold one, but two year’s of hard work and creativity, fuelled by their passion for sport, has meant that their vision is barely months from being realised, with the game’s launch expected before the end of the year. Empire of Sports has the potential to be a massive commercial and critical success, but there’s still work to be done before this sporting world can evolve into something really groundbreaking. Like any MMORPG, the community will have a pivotal role to play - the developers are acutely aware that the game’s success will be driven by them – but, if Empire of Sports does get the early backing and support from its beta testers and gains the positive media coverage I believe it deserves, then the game has unlimited potential.

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From orlandosentinel.com:

"All exposure therapy is helping someone face their fears," says Josh Spitalnick of Virtually Better, the Atlanta company that makes the virtual-reality therapy software.

Psychologists have been using virtual reality for about a decade, but the technology was, until recently, clunky and awkward.

No more. Now virtual reality looks like, well, reality.

For instance, now therapists can take a person who is afraid of heights, put the headset and goggles on him and place him on the 6-inch platform in the lab. With the headset on, he can walk to the edge of the platform and look down and feel as if he is on top of a 20-story building.

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From gamepolitics.com (via slashdot.org):

Well, it’s not quite like that, but the City of Decatur, Georgia is evaluating the use of a virtual world interface to "encourage community networking, improve civic engagement, and promote economic development."

The project even has a name: Virtual Decatur.

A website devoted to Virtual Decatur references Second Life and World of Warcraft, although not necessarily as models. From the site:

Virtual Decatur will provide an environment in which residents, businesses, institutions and visitors can interact and connect…  it is it is imperative that the project go beyond the features of traditional virtual environments.  The overarching purpose of this project is to allow users to interact with the City in new and innovative ways that are not possible in the real world.

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From ehealthnews.eu:

21-23 June 2009, Verbania, Italy.

The 14th Annual International CyberTherapy and CyberPsychology Conference (CT14) brings together researchers, clinicians, policy makers and funding agencies to share and discuss advancements in the growing disciplines of CyberTherapy & CyberPsychology. The conference will seek input from a wider segment of the scientific community, and is interested in attracting experts in clinical therapy and rehabilitation, cognitive sciences, social sciences, and computer sciences interested in the meeting’s core topics: emerging applications of new media, design of new media and effects of new media.

There is also an interest in continuing to design, evaluate and apply cutting edge technologies such as Ambient Intelligence, Augmented and Mixed Reality, Avatars, Shared Virtual Worlds, Video Game Virtual Reality (VGVR), Web 2.0 and 3.0, 3G and 4G mobile phones.

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From laist.com:

So when we got the invitation from Nintendo for their Wii Fit Ultimate Playdate event at the W Hotel, we took some inspiration from Willie Nelson and headed over to learn more about how to stay in shape.

We entered the Bliss Spa at the W to find manicurists and massage therapists ready to pamper us. Wait a minute! Hold the phone! Were we being treated to video games and spa treatments at the same time? Had we entered heaven?

Then they told us that we’d get to workout on the Wii Fit with personal trainer, Ashley Borden. Borden is the author of "Your Perfect Fit " with Paige Adams-Geller. We grilled her with questions about how effective she believes the Wii Fit can be. Borden suggests that all exercise that gets us inspired has to be a good thing.

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From kotaku.com (via gamepolitics.com):

Who says UK lawmakers are hostile to video games? Tom Watson, the government’s Cabinet Office Minister wants kids to play more. And not just edutainment or shovelware — violent ones are OK.

"Basically, I think playing games is a good thing," Watson (pictured) told the Mirror. "I’d rather my boy be playing on his Wii than passively watching telly. Most games are educational. They make you think, focus, challenge and change - 500 years ago a medium that did this would be called art."

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Here are a few fun healthy gift ideas for the holidays, for kids and adults. Enjoy!

1. Wii Fit  
2. Nintendo DS
3. Brain Age
4. Wii Sports
5. Active Life Outdoor Challenge
6. Dance Dance Revolution
7. My Weight Loss Coach
8. My Stop Smoking Coach with Allen Carr
9. Personal Trainer: Cooking
10. Let’s Yoga

Which one will you be playing this winter?

Do you have any more suggestions?