If virtual reality has been invited into our homes for a few years, it is quite curious to realize that, like consoles, PCs and other mobiles, nothing has been done to protect our dear brown, blonde or red heads from inappropriate content. Aware of this problem, Meta announced parental control tools that will be rolling out over the next few months.
So much to remember, the Meta Quest is not recommended for children under the age of 13 (their eyes not having reached their full maturity), this is the reason why Parental controls will only apply to ages 13 and older.
Before setting up any Metaversethe parent company of Facebook is slowly beginning to take the lead to reassure families and restore its image. Meta remember for all intents and purposes that parental control is not there to supplement the role of parents!
In practice, Meta will change the locking systema system that only prevented malicious people from accessing your device to potentially steal your saved passwords. From April 2022it will be possible from this same system to block specific apps. Parents can in their turn unlock or lock said apps from that same lock pattern.
The teenager will have to link his account Facebook to that of his parentsalthough there is no indication whether said connection should be mandatory to use the headset! Once logged in, the child canlike a Family Link or a Microsoft Family Safety request permission to override the blocks, and it will be up to the parents whether or not to approve the request.
A dashboard will feature on the Oculus mobile app and will bring the following protections:
- Each parent will be able to approve the download or purchase of a blocked application because of his advised age;
- Each child will be able to submit a purchase request which will automatically trigger a notification to parents;
- Each parent will have access to the total list of apps what does the child have;
- Every parent will know the usage time of the headset of the child;
- Each parent will know their child’s list of Oculus friends;
- Each parent can deactivate the Link and Air Link function to prevent their children from accessing the entire PC;
- Every teenager will be able to get an overview of the parent dashboard through the mobile app.
Worked closely with both industry experts and families, Meta repeatedly clarifies that all of its parental control tools will adapt to the behavior of parents and childrenand that these will constantly evolve.
do not forget that Meta had already implemented social distancing last month to prevent certain excesses, in particular moral and physical harassment, proof if there is one that he takes the matter very seriously!
If you haven’t taken the plunge yet, you can treat yourself to a Oculus Quest 2 at the house of Bakerthe Fnac, Darty Where Amazon for €349.99.