Bought your kid a VR headset for Christmas? You might regret it
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Meta’s OculusQuest 2 virtual-reality headset.
Getty Images| Future | Getty Images
A virtual reality headset could cause severe problems for children who were gifted it by parents for Christmas.
Oculus VR, the VR Division of Facebook Parent Company Meta, likely saw surging sales over the holidaysThe top ranking is held by, its main app. Apple’sApp Store Christmas Day
Oculus Quest 2 is the most well-known headset from the company, but it doesn’t have parental controls. This allows responsible adults to block any material that could be dangerous for children.
Some headsets don’t have child safety features, like HTC’s Vive or Valve’s Index. HTC claims its headset is not suitable for children under the age of 6. For parents, it is possible to create parental controls Sony’sPlayStation VR on its PS4 console and PS5 console.
Apart from the risk of children coming in contact with unsafe material experts also recommend that parents be aware. also worried about the effects VR may have on children’s eyes — though there is little data available on this.
Meta made VR an important focus in the pivot to its so-called metaverse, a virtual shared world where people can interact and work together.
Facebook’s recent rebrand has stimulated renewed interest in VR technology, which has struggled for commercial success.
Meta stated that its terms prohibit children younger than 13 from creating accounts and this information was included during the set-up process. Meta said that all Oculus content has been rated by the International Age Rating Coalition.
The darker side of VR
Center for Countering Digital Hate (a non-profit working to push Big Tech companies out of hate on their platforms) found many instances child abuse, harassment, and racism within the chatroom VRChat which can be found online at Oculus.
One video shared by the CCDH shows a user playing a recording praising abuse of children. A second clip features someone laughing at being a “convicted sexoffender” and having a minor with them. The organization claims that VR headsets can be dangerous for children, even if there are no parental controls.
Imran Ahmed (CEO of the CCDH) stated that the metaverse was a place for hate, pornography, child grooming, and other forms of violence. It “connects users to not only each other, but also to a range of predators.”
He said that parents who gift their child the VR Oculus headset from Facebook for Christmas should be mindful of the dangers to their children.
Kristina Milian, Meta spokesperson for VRChat told CNBC this application is cross-platform. It means players who connect from Quest can interact with others from other platforms, such as SteamVR. MicrosoftWindows she stated.
Meta has also saidIt will spend $50 million on global research partners and program partners in order to develop its metaverse products responsibly.
CNBC reached out to VRChat’s makers for clarification but was unable to reach them immediately.
How do parents feel?
Oculus Quest 2, which is relatively simple, can be set up in just minutes. The user must link their Facebook account. This requires that they be over 13 years of age. It doesn’t matter if younger siblings have the right to use Facebook, as long as they can access their parents’ account.
CNBC interviewed parents who said they are happy to let their children use VR as long as the child is under supervision. They were also concerned about Oculus’ lack of parental control.
Matt Miller, tech entrepreneur, founded Ustwo software development firm.
He said, “We wanted to give the children something they could share with their friends.” “I loved the idea of children learning about places that were unfamiliar to them.”
Miller and Lisa believe Meta should be able to filter what children see in Oculus.
Eric Berry is a Saratoga Springs-based software engineer. He says that he tried to get his children an Oculus Q2 until he discovered there weren’t parental controls.
Berry tweeted, “I hope that they add them quickly or it will become their worst nightmare device.”
Miller still believes VR can be a compelling experience and his children enjoy games such as Beat Saber rhythm game and Rec Room social gaming app. Miller added, “They play only the games they’ve purchased.”
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