Thomsen structures his piece around a series of studies on video game therapy, including one interactive game that would allow amputees to manipulate onscreen avatars using virtual reality goggles and Microsoft Kinect. In theory, this would diminish the pain caused by phantom limbs, but according to Thomsen, this kind of technology could also open the door for similarly experiential games — enhanced systems oriented not around binary competition, but physical consequence. "In videogames we consent to having our own perceptions manipulated to the point of breakdown," the author writes. "If we accept that games can help us heal ourselves, we are implicitly admitting they can hurt us."