China Introduces VR Game For Sorting Garbage Instruction

Most of the VR games aim to provide players with the immersion in another world like a theme park or a deserted, haunted hospital. However, this VR game is something totally different as it wants to teach you how to classify your trash.

On June 26, a video on a VR gaming booth in Shanghai went viral on Weibo, China’s Twitter. The game asks players to throw the correct type of trash into four garbage bins.

This type of games normally wouldn’t have attracted people’s interest. However, it becomes famous since Shanghai authorities just announce the new rule that requires its citizens to sort their garbage correctly.

According to the regulation, the citizens need to classify trash into 4 types: hazardous waste, recyclables waste, wet garbage (kitchen waste) and dry garbage.

Starting from July 7, any individual violates the sorting garbage regulation will be fined 200 yuan (or ₹2,008) while companies can receive a fine of up to 500,000 yuan (or 50 lakhs).

However, citizens find it difficult to differentiate between dry and wet garbage. For example, sunflower’s seeds’ dry shells should be wet garbage while the wet napkins are dry garbage. The new rule confuses people and they take it to Weibo.

The said game maker is a VR education company called VitrellaCore with its headquarters in Shanghai. On WeChat, the company said that the game booth is free for Shanghai citizens and it will soon be released on Steam.

While this new rule is making people confused, it has also offered new business opportunities online.

The price of the small sortable trash cans used in houses has increased significantly on e-commerce platforms. There is even a platform called Xianyu that offer at-home consulting service for trash classification.

Shanghai is deploying what is known as “smart garbage bins” that work just like a mailbox with the owner’s name, address and can be opened via a smartphone app.