Meta Platforms announced the release of its latest mixed reality headset, the Quest 3, earlier this month. The company, which is led by Mark Zuckerberg, is one of the biggest names in Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality devices and is now allowing users as young as 10 to use its Quest 2 and Quest 3 headsets. The minimum age has been reduced from 13 years to 10 years, and parents will be able to set up a parent-managed Meta account for their children, starting later this year.
Meta assures parents that they will retain control over their children’s accounts. Preteens will need their parent’s approval to set up an account and download apps onto the virtual reality headsets. Meta is set to use children’s ages to provide age-appropriate experiences across its app store by recommending apps that are safe for kids. Although the age limit has been lowered, parents will still be able to control the apps that their children download from the Meta Quest Platform. They will be able to block access to apps at any time, Meta assures.
Meta has addressed the concerns of parents regarding their children’s usage of the VR headset. Parents will be able to set time limits for the use of headsets by kids and schedule breaks from devices. There will be options to cast the VR experiences to a phone or TV screen that would allow parents to monitor what their preteens are viewing while they’re using the headset. Additionally, Meta profiles of kids aged between 10 and 12 years will be set to private by default, blocking unknown people from following preteens without their or their parent’s approval.
Active Status and current app usage by this age group will also be hidden from others by default, unless their parent chooses to allow this information to be shared. Preteens will not be able to change default privacy and safety settings. Meta promises that ads will not appear for participants in this age group. Parents will have the ability to choose whether their child’s data can be used to improve the company’s services. Additionally, parents will be able to delete their child’s account and related user details.
Meta has revealed that it is working with the developer community to add more age-appropriate apps and games onto the Meta Quest Platform for this age group. As of now, Meta’s social virtual reality app, Horizon Worlds, is accessible to people aged above 13 years in the US and Canada. In Europe, users aged above 18 years can access it.
To sum up, Meta Platforms is now allowing users aged 10 to 12 years to use its Quest 2 and Quest 3 headsets with parent-managed accounts. Parents will retain control over their children’s accounts, and Meta promises that ads will not appear for participants in this age group. The company assures parents that they will have the ability to control the apps that their children download from the Meta Quest Platform.
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