Well, it was only a matter of time before a resourceful, lonely nerd exploited Oculus Rift’s incredible virtual-reality technology in order to get grabby with the virtual ladies.
A video recently uploaded to Japanese video sharing site Niconico shows an innovative creator demonstrating his latest virtual conquest: a boob-grabbing game. In the video, Niconico user Ryuto exhibits his creation, which includes an Oculus Rift position tracker, an Arduino control board, and a LeapMotion pressure sensor in the fabricated foam boob mousepad.
“The device is fairly simple–the user puts on the Oculus Rift, which provides a 3-D scene and an animated girl, and then reaches out to cop a feel.” RocketNews24 explains. “Upon squeezing the breasts–which are actually foam from a novelty mouse pad–the girl squeals with shock, covers her chest with her arms, and turns her eyes to the ground.”
Now, there’s nothing wrong with lonely boys having a bit of virtual fun. One could easily argue that a simulated chest massage is less disturbing than slaughtering countless people, as is done in nearly every first-person shooter game. But what makes this demonstration creepy and wrong is the programmed reaction of the female character. When the groping action occurs, her reaction clearly indicates that the molestation was uninvited and unwanted.
“The anime girl, Mami, grabs her chest defensively and makes a surprised noise every time Ryuto pulls a Danny Zucko, giving the whole thing less of an endearing-virgin vibe and more of a subway-groper-in-training theme,” Gizmodo aptly describes. “Would it have been difficult to make Mami a willing participant to the caressing in this uncanny valley? No more difficult than constructing this whole bizarre project.”
Although this creation is disturbing and a bit confusing, it’s being demoed at an upcoming Oculus Rift festival in Japan. If you’re desperately seeking some titillation in your life, Ryuto and his virtual boobs will be at OcuFes in Nagoya on September 14 for your squeezing pleasure.
