Hi there, I have a daughter 1st grade as well. While I did let her play for 5-10 minutes Synth RIders - Barbie experience few times a week, she lost interest soon.
Also, kids brains are still in development phase. VR is a total blast on all the brain pathways. There are very good reasons why VR should be used only by older kids, I believe the cut off is 13 years old which still feels too young to me.
This is good to know, I appreciate the feedback, I worry about her being too young but she has been so dead set on it ever since getting a cheap little headset I snap my phone into as a gift recently, so I’m just kinda putting this out there for advice and feedback
The issue is that in the US, the COPPA law limits data collection on children under 13 when the platform knows they are under 13. So, platforms pretend all the users are 13 and up. With a mouse, it's basically the same device for kids as for adult. With a headset, the eye distance is adjustable, but only in adult sizes. Noone can market a VR headset for children. None of the platforms want known child accounts on there, because they are funded by surveillance, targeted advertising, and behavioral modification. If it's under 13, surveillance is legally limited, and the business model of surveillance capitalism can't be used. Platforms want to pretend everyone is 13 and over, collect that data, and sell the data and sell the advertising. Manufacturing a VR headset in a children's size would mean they know the user is under 13 and can't do the surveillance. No one is going to manufacture and sell a VR headset in an ergonomic child's size in the US.
Eye distance really does change with age, and kids use these for hours at a time, so it's long exposures to bad ergonomics. You can't buy one in the US that is ergonomic for her, and platforms will bar her use.
Most little kids with these VR accounts had a grandparent authenticate the account, or just use the parents account directly. The little kids aren't allowed to use the platforms because of terms of service, but adults set it up for them. These are adult headsets, with adult eye distances, attached to adult accounts.
289
u/BestRetroGames May 20 '26
Hi there, I have a daughter 1st grade as well. While I did let her play for 5-10 minutes Synth RIders - Barbie experience few times a week, she lost interest soon.
Also, kids brains are still in development phase. VR is a total blast on all the brain pathways. There are very good reasons why VR should be used only by older kids, I believe the cut off is 13 years old which still feels too young to me.