"My 6yo son has been begging me to get the VR out for a while so I finally did it"
Unrelated to the botched firmware update, but even though I'm all about video games and sharing them with kids... that's veeeery young for VR.
this post was submitted on 26 Dec 2024
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I mean it's more active than normal games and full of all sorts of physics puzzles, they probably shouldn't explore in VR chat without supervision, but otherwise it seems like a great way to practice moving their body effectively
Even VR headset manufacturers don't dare recommend it before 10-12, and it's in their interest to have it adopted as fast as possible.
There are concerns over sight development, balance, higher "realness" impact etc. And still not enough research to know for sure.
Not to mention it's a hard to supervise experience, unless you have streaming on a screen (so typically not embedded quest).
There are plenty of motion-based video games that don't involve a headset, from accessory-based rhythm games to gyro-oriented controllers (mostly console, and still mostly Nintendo, but not exclusively).
I mean, a corporation will always cover their ass on the label while happily marketing to groups below their recommended age range
And you're right that we don't know if there could be problems... You can't do this kind of research on toddlers for ethical reasons. The only way to find out is to either study issues or wait for a good slice of the population to grow up using them
That being said, it's just concerns - something we always have with something new. I'm sure extreme use could have some psychological effects, there could potentially be some eye-related development problems... But it mirrors our sight and movement at a time when this kind of body coordination is crucial.
Playing outside is IRL is probably best, but movement games on a 2d surface aren't going to give you the same coordination. And in virtual worlds with various physics, I could easily see this leading to deeper spatial awareness
It's a judgement call. It's not a clear and dry risk to development though - "normal" amounts of conventional screen time certainly seems to be though. The ideal parents would be hands on and frequently exposing their kids to many different IRL activities... But using VR to fill in the gaps isn't a terrible idea (without further evidence)
The 13 years limit was more to do with Facebook account limits.
PlayStation recommends 12 and up.
But Nintendo VR (the switch Labo kit) was for age 7 and up.
When this came up on Reddit forums, there were never any conclusive studies cited.
Very interesting…I did not know that
I’ll add that fb account limits themselves are based on the legality of collecting certain info on children
If they break my shit with an update, they better give me a full fucking refund. And with how the recent updates have been breaking all sorts of shit, I am already prepared for this one to completely kill my headset. 😬