A group of research students from the Technical University of Delft, The Netherlands, have developed a game to help children overcome their fear of dentists. The game will be played with 3D glasses and a game controller, while the children sit on the dentist’s chair. The project was initiated by Rob Kooij and the testing program was supported by many dentists.
The students have been working on this ‘serious game’ since September, but the gameplay isn’t perfect yet. In the game itself you will have to defend a row of teeth: the bad guys are represented by soda and candy, while the good guys are (of course) toothpicks, tooth paste and dental floss. The boss fight consists of a battle with a big bacteria monster. And if you open your mouth at the right moments, the game image will remain sharp. If you don’t, the image will become vague.
The goal of the game is to decrease the stress of children sitting in the dental chair. It won’t directly take away the fear, but the game teaches children what happens when you are at the dentist’s and how you should take care of your teeth. They expect to finish the pilot version of the game by the middle of 2012.
More at the Metro (in Dutch): Gamen tijdens het boren van een gaatje bij de tandarts