Amanda Project uses virtual reality to teach kids about bullying

A group of university engineering students from Greece has created a B.C-inspired interactive virtual reality project that can help students learn how to detect bullying and intervene.

Users interact withThe Amanda Projectby downloading asmartphoneapp and then strapping the phone tovirtual reality glasses. They see images of bullying from theperspective of the bully, the bystander andthe person being bullied.

Theuser'sbehavioursand physical responses are then measured by the app,and their experiencechanges based on their reaction. The creators say that information can be used to detect and prevent bullying by fostering awareness, empathy, and self-confidence.

Inspired by Amanda Todd

VasileiosBaltatzis, one of the creators, said the project was inspired by the death of B.C. teenager Amanda Todd, who died by suicide in 2012 after beingblackmailed by an online predator to whom she exposedher breasts on a webcam.

"It was a reallyheartbreaking moment realizing that people all over the world are living stuff like this every day, and this was their reality," Baltatzis said.

"We just weren'thappy with what was being done to help these people. So, we decided to use our technical knowledge to do something about it."

The team was in touch with Amanda Todd's mother, Carol, last month to tell her about the project and their participation in theMicrosoft Imagine Cup in Seattle, where they have made it to the finals.

'It just rocks your heart'

"When I first got theemail,I was reading it thinking,'this is awesome,'" said Todd, who travelled to Seattle from Vancouver to meet with the team.

"It's an honour to Amanda, and it is a bittersweet moment for me. But it's just one of those stories that gives you it just rocks your heart."

Todd said she expects the project to do well because it uses a budding technology that's attractive to young people.

It will alsobe useful to teenswho have told her they lack the skills to learn what to do about bullying, she added.

"With this application, it gives them the practice, it gives them theabilityto put the knowledge into their heads whether they're a victim or a bystander," she said.

Baltatzisemphasized that bullying is a worldwide phenomenon and the team hopes the project will have a global impact.

"If we can help some people, it is the most great thing man can do with technology," he said.