FGCU students got a taste of alien abduction and animal testing recently as peta2 brought its virtual reality simulation “Abduction” to campus.

The event invited students to step into a simulated scenario designed to mirror what peta2 said were experiences animals endure in laboratory testing.

Peta2 is the youth division of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, or PETA, and has brought the traveling simulation to nearly 100 universities since 2022.

As they sit in the VR chair, participants are introduced to the premise: a group of friends stranded with a flat tire who are soon abducted and subjected to testing. The simulation then depicts scenes meant to parallel animal experimentation, including confinement and forced exposure to harmful substances.

Some students expressed enjoyment or intrigue about the experience in passing conversations at the event. However, no students who described their experience as positive or neutral agreed to be interviewed for this story.

Michala Hooper, the Abduction tour administrator for peta2, said the simulation is meant to create an emotional connection that traditional outreach methods may not achieve.

“Empathy needs an image. Empathy needs an experience,” Hooper said. “These participants get to experience the lives of animals in laboratories through the analogy of the alien abduction.”

Hooper described the simulation as intentionally unsettling, though not explicitly graphic, to reflect what she says is the reality for animals used in testing.

“It is emotionally disturbing, and that’s the point,” she said. “The point is to make people feel differently from pre-abduction and post-abduction.”

She added that the organization encourages participants to take action after the experience, including signing petitions and advocating for alternatives to animal testing.

“Students are horrified to find out that animals are shocked, burned, poisoned, injected with deadly diseases,” Hooper said. “A lot of students are very inspired and passionate upon exiting the experience.”

FGCU junior Lee Sprung, who participated in the simulation, described a different reaction.

“I thought it was gonna be something fun,” Sprung said. “I saw a truck that said ‘Get abducted by aliens’…and I just kind of wanted to see the VR.”

Sprung said she was caught off guard by the content once the simulation began.

“I had no warning about what I was gonna be seeing,” she said. “It was slightly graphic. Like, there were unclothed individuals, the characters were foaming at the mouth in the tube…I wasn't comfortable watching it.”

She characterized her overall experience as negative, citing what she described as a reliance on shock value. And while Sprung said she is already against animal testing, she does not believe the simulation aided in reaffirming that. She also questioned the effectiveness of the event in sparking meaningful conversation.

“Most people have been talking about it being about alien abduction and not about the actual cause,” Sprung said. “I think that they missed the mark there.”

Hooper, however, maintained that emotional storytelling is necessary to advocate for animals.

“Animals in laboratories are like us in all the ways that matter,” she said. “They don’t have a voice.”

WGCU is your trusted source for news and information in Southwest Florida. We are a nonprofit public service, and your support is more critical than ever. Keep public media strong and donate now. Thank you.