The University of Central Florida is spending approximately $434,000 on a simulator that will be used to promote abstinence amongst pre-teen girls.
“What’s radically different about this [concept is that] one person controls many characters,” Charles Hughes, UCF Computer Science professor, told Fox News.
“A boy similar in age might approach the person playing the game and ask her to make out or there might be some sexual innuendo.”
According to Professor Anne Norris, an “interactor” can literally jump into a scenario by wearing a specially designed motion-capture suit.
“They have an opportunity to interact with the avatars and they’ll earn points for particular social skills that they develop.
“It’s [clearly] a place to practice where there aren’t any social consequences.”
Unsurprisingly, Destructoid’s Conrad Zimmerman opined that the suit looked as “creepy as hell.”
“They’re going to put kids in motion-capture suits and have them act out rejecting male students. I’ll grant you, it’s a skill that all girls benefit from having, but is the suit really necessary?
“[Yes], I’m completely in favor of games being used as educational tools but this is just way too much.
“[Because] for that money, you could hire at least ten entry-level teachers and thin out some class sizes in low-income communities which would probably be just as effective in reducing teen pregnancies.”
