American Heart Association Pledges $50,000 Toward Wii Remote CPR Sim

The American Heart Association has pledged $50,000 toward the development of a Nintendo Wii Remote-controlled game that teaches players how to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation. The application is currently being developed by a group of biomedical engineering students at the University of Alabama in Birmingham. University of Alabama associate professor Greg Walcott spearheaded the game's development after finding that downloaded computer applications can be synced and controlled with Nintendo's Wii Remote peripheral. "The Heart Association's high interest in our students' innovations points to potential of this project and how it fits in with its desire to deliver reliable CPR education to the masses," said University of Alabama faculty adviser Jack Rogers. The University of Alabama's CPR simulation will be available as a free download from the American Heart Association's website upon its completion.