Nintendo Planning Vitality Sensor Announcement on May 17?

With E3 just about a month away, it seems like the obvious venue for Nintendo to finally explain just what the hell their mysterious Wii Vitality Sensor will actually be used for. But could that explanation be coming much sooner than expected?
Nintendo has announced they're planning a press conference in New York in conjunction with the American Heart Association this Monday, May 17, where they will make "a special joint announcement." While the press release makes no mention of what this announcement will be, the natural speculation is it will revolve around the Vitality Sensor, considering the device is used to read a player's pulse -- something that could lead to the sort of games the American Heart Association might approve of.

Very little has been explained about the Vitality Sensor since its reveal at E3 2009, with Nintendo president Satoru Iwata saying at the time that games "have been used for stimulation, but maybe it won't be long until games are used for relaxation and even to fall asleep." Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime has previously stated the Vitality Sensor and its first compatible games will be shown at E3 2010, but then, that doesn't necessarily mean they can't make any announcements about it leading into E3, either. And if Nintendo would rather have much of their E3 focus fall on the Nintendo 3DS, it would make sense to get the Vitality Sensor reveal out of the way a month in advance.

Still, this all just speculation for now. Luckily, we'll only have to wait until tomorrow to see what they actually have in store. Stay tuned.