Virtual reality (VR) is a powerful medium capable of educating and entertaining in ways that videogames and film simply cannot. Brush Up VR, set to launch on Steam Early Access next week, aims to do exactly that with a humorous take on teaching children how to better brush their teeth.
Developed by GamesThatWork, Brush Up VR aligns the player with a friendly blue robot named Budd. Armed with a giant toothbrush, the player must brush all the green gunk from Budd’s teeth within the time limit. Failure to do so will be bad for your little blue buddy.
“Kids only brush what they see in the mirror, and many adults aren’t much better” says Dr. Bob Jacobson, the family dentist behind Brush Up. “They spend two minutes polishing the front teeth and scrubbing the easy side. That won’t work in Brush Up VR. You must clean the inner, outer and biting surface of every tooth.”
Brush Up VR is a spinoff of the well-respected brush-along mobile videogame, Brush Up. NIH-funded studies show that Brush Up dramatically improves children’s toothbrush performance, even a year after playing the videogame.
The Atlanta-based GamesThatWork is releasing Brush Up VR on 1st February 2017, via Steam Early Access, just in time for the US National Children’s Dental Health Month. This HTC Vive-exclusive title will be available for $0.99 USD as well as on Viveport, and VRFocus will bring you a hands-on preview of the videogame very soon.