Children as young as 10 can use Meta's VR glasses

According to SCMP , Mark Zuckerberg's company is trying to change the virtual metaverse to become more family-friendly and attract more users, despite growing concerns about children spending too much time on social networks.

Over the years, both Facebook and Instagram have been criticized for their strategies to keep children on social media. Many argue that social media addiction exposes children to harmful content, reduces the time they spend on real-life relationships, and increases the risk of online bullying and sexual abuse.

According to Meta’s blog post, parents will retain control of their children’s accounts for Quest 2 and Quest 3 headsets. It also emphasized that children will only have access to “age-appropriate” apps when using the headset. Additionally, the company said the Metaverse virtual universe has many engaging and educational apps and games for children ages 10 and up.

To create a Quest account and use apps on the platform, children need parental consent.

Meta recommends that children limit their VR use to about two hours a day. Accounts for children under 13 will be set to private by default, and the company has pledged not to show ads to these accounts. Meta also allows content to be streamed from the VR headset to a TV or phone screen so parents can see what their kids are watching.

By expanding the potential audience for Quest, Mark Zuckerberg is taking a major step toward his goal of making the metaverse as ubiquitous as Facebook and Instagram.

Despite millions of Quest headsets sold, the metaverse is still considered a “digital ghost town.” Reality Labs, the division that builds the metaverse, reported a loss of $13.7 billion through 2022, its largest annual loss on record, in a report on February 1.

On June 1, Meta announced the Quest 3, which starts at $500, and revealed that it would be lowering the price of the Quest 2. Meta is also facing formidable new competition from Apple’s Vision Pro, which has received enthusiastic responses despite its $3,499 list price.

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