Video games are all about presenting the most realistic experience for gamers these days and with graphic cards technology getting better every year it seems there's no other way for games to get more realistic. Or is there? A research team from Tokyo Metropolitan University is adding another touch of realism to video games: this time gamers will be able to feel hot or cold depending on the game.

The team is exploring the potential of thermal gaming. They've developed three devices that can send force feedback back to the gamers. Using the concept of thermoelectric cooling which transfers heat from one type of material to another, the team has built three experimental devices for gaming. The researchers added a Peletier element, which can change temperature from hot to cold when a voltage is applied, to the three devices.

The Thermo Game is a controller that integrates temperature in the gameplay. The team demonstrated a game where the player has to find "warm spots" in the screen that will explode and lift the character up. The controller will heat up so that the player will be able to find the "warm spots".

Thermo Draw is a tablet that will change temperature based on the colors the users' paints on the tablet. Red colors will turn the heat up while blue colors will turn the tablet cold.

Thermo Chair is pitched as a new communication tool but it seems like another heated chair. "You could warm the seat, using a remote control, to let your family know that "We're going to have a hot meal today." We think that kind of family communication might be fun, especially for children," the team explains.

The applications of this technology are limitless. Imagine levels in games set in icy tundras where the players have to find a way out or risk getting frostbite from the controller. Getting hit by a flame thrower in first person shooter games will mean getting burned by the controller. The Thermo Chair can be used to enhance movie watching or it could be a clever way to prank people sitting in the chair. Of course mass commercialization of temperature feedback devices depends on how cheap it will take to manufacture and whether gamers would mind getting burned by playing their favorite games.