- The Washington Times - Friday, July 19, 2013

A Virus Tracker program that combines new-age technology with old-age gaming — tag — has an estimated 3,000 Boy Scouts at the annual America’s National Jamboree trying to turn each other into virtual zombies.

The game, designed by Virginia Tech researchers, is aimed at showing users how disease spreads. Scouts earn points by “infecting” other players via bar-coded labels, The Associated Press reported.

Codes are activated at specially devised scanning stations, or by smartphones that have the Virus Tracker app. The goal? Stay human, AP reported.

The winner is the one who accumulates the most points.

Turning Scouts into zombies is “really cool,” said Scout Colin Slavin from Illinois, AP reported.

• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.

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