Virtual Sprouts, a gardening and cooking immersive gameplay that addresses pediatric obesity launches its first crowdfunding Initiative

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 8, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Inspired by the First Lady's Organic Garden, Virtual Sprouts is launching its first crowdfunding campaign to invite the general public to participate in the crowdfunding of a game fighting obesity in children.Virtual Sprouts aspires to become an exciting, immersive, and transformative play experience for children ages 8 through 11. Virtual Sprouts is part of a multi-platform campaign to improve the diet, nutrition and health understanding of children at risk for obesity, which is the quest of a team of nationally recognized clinical and educational researchers collaborating with the #1 game design programmer in the United States.

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Behind this initiative, that will give this game free of charge to minority children, stand researchers from the Keck School of Medicine of USC, the USC School of Cinema, and the USC Viterbi School of Engineering and the Institute for Creative Technologies from USC. This initiative is also facilitated by the Alfred E. Mann Institute for Biomedical Engineering at the University of Southern California, Three Two One Productions, and When You Wish.

The game will reach minority children and families, their families, teachers and communities as part of an educational effort to revolutionize STEM education on obesity, promote healthy food choices and decrease obesity rates. 

With the help of donations from the general public, the Virtual Sprouts hopes to raise $50,000 or more to develop a beta version of Virtual Sprouts using Unity3D game engine for one mobile platform and an online portal for educational resources that leverage the game for STEM education according to California standards. The team will also pursue a secondary goal to evaluate the impact of the game with children from neighboring USC schools, as well as the individuals who donate at the $50 playtester level.

About the Virtual Sprouts Team at the University of Southern California
The initiative is lead by a dedicated team of star researchers and game designers committed to reversing childhood obesity. The team wants to understand the biological, behavioral, social, and environmental causes of childhood obesity in order to develop culturally sensitive, evidence-based approaches to promote good health behavior in kids. New technologies in mobile health (mHealth) and interactive media are central to their approach.

To setup an interview with anyone involved.

Contact: [email protected]

SOURCE Virtual Sprouts