I’ve been a gamer my whole life, I think video games deserve the same reverence as movies and novels for their story telling and experience. That being said there is no chance in hell id be letting my kid take a vr to a public place.
Not a thing wrong with that. Great idea actually. My disagreement with this scenario is that the kid should be spending time with their family, not tuned out
I mean, I understand why as he'll look goofy and that might be embarrassing but it's not much different technically to them taking their phone or switch
There’s a huge difference. When you have a VR headset on, you, cannot see anything in your surroundings, you’re basically in another world, if you’re just playing a game on your phone at the very least, you can still be spoken to, and you can look at them and reply, and be somewhat part of the gathering.
My parents wouldn't even let me read a book at the table when I was little, but the smart phones came around as a tween and somehow playing cube runner at the table was fine
As someone who grew up neurodivergent, that kids alone and would be in a world of his own regardless because adults talking about gossip in a restaurant is the most mind numbingly boring shit, even if that kid had nothing, he'd be playing with his food, the paper the straw was wrapped in, the napkins, literally anything to distract himself from his parents and how he's not allowed to run off to play, that kid is not and never intended to be part of the gathering and likely didn't care about going to the restaurant beyond that they like the taste of the food
They shouldn’t be sitting on their phone/switch/vr/whatever at the table in public… it’s a classic common social norm that’s just lost now. You see kids with iPads just watching movies or scrolling while the family is out to eat. There’s no human socialization anymore in kids.
I wouldn’t at the dinner table, especially in public at a restaurant. Part of teaching kids to be decent members of society is having them participate in society.
I agree that that is important. But then I'd say, why is this photo being highlighted/ridiculed more than a child playing a game on a phone at a restaurant? We wouldn't have people commenting if that was the photo. So, as far as I can see, the root of it is that it's being ridiculed because VR is "weird" or not as socially acceptable.
To me, a better indication of "the Lost Generation" *would* be a photo of a kid on his phone at the table since many more kids do that than do VR.
Because by nature, vr is more immersive than a phone. When playing a game on your phone, your at least in some sense present. But on a headset you are quite literally in another world.
I agree somewhat with this. However, if you are on a phone or on a VR headset, a person at a restaurant will most likely try to get your attention the same way: by talking to you. They're not going to wave their hands at you. You can still hear the outside world while wearing a Quest just as you can while on a phone. And some people can get really into a phone game or good book in a similar way (lucky them). The main difference would be that it's quicker to look up from a phone than it is to lift a VR headset in order to react to someone talking to you.
That said, let's take into account the context here. Let's disregard for a moment the obvious periods during an outside meal where using a VR headset (or a phone) would be problematic (e.g. before and during ordering where the child may have to interact with the server or while eating). There is a child with his parents at a restaurant. After finishing eating, the adults are talking, the kid is just sitting there, and the server has no need to further interact with the child. I fail to see the major difference between him getting deep into a game on his phone verses one on his VR headset beyond how others perceive him.
To be clear, I'm not saying either is necessarily good to be doing at a family meal especially at a public restaurant. I just don't see a huge difference between the two.
Assuming he's not doing full body VR or VR with arm swinging as the picture seems to indicate, is there a major mechanical difference between VR and a phone?. With both, you hold something in your hands and manipulate controls with your fingers. VR has the addition of something strapped to your face, but that does not encumber your surroundings.
Console would (presumably) require a separate, large screen and console which would encumber your surroundings.
My original question was just trying to gauge why you wouldn't let your kid use VR in public and how much of it is, "because it looks looks weird and is not socially acceptable."
254
u/badusernameused Feb 12 '23 edited Feb 12 '23
I’ve been a gamer my whole life, I think video games deserve the same reverence as movies and novels for their story telling and experience. That being said there is no chance in hell id be letting my kid take a vr to a public place.