VR Headset Recommendations for 8-Year-Old

rhondalee

New member
** Thank you everyone for your recommendations (Oculus/meta quest seems to be the best) and thank you also to those who have mentioned about the issues with younger children/eyesight. I will definitely be monitoring and limiting his time on it appropriately and if it’s anything like his PS4 I imagine he will use it about once a month if that! Looking forward to using it myself though!
Thank you again xx **
I’m looking for recommendations for VR headsets please!
My son is 8 and has asked for one for Christmas, but despite being a little bit tech savvy I have absolutely no idea about VRs!
Thank you in advance!
 
Highly recommend the Oculus quest, they have just released the quest 3 but we have a quest 2 and it still get used daily, children are 11 and 17 and had it for 2 years. You can download the app on your phone to see the prices of games etc. You can purchase through the headset or app, It's portable as long as there is a Wi-Fi connection 😁
 
Meta Quest 2 or 3 will be fine. Just be sure to limit time though as he will likely get headaches. The reason most VR headsets have an age limit staring 11-13 (depending on the headset) is because of the IPD (Inter-pupillary Distance), essentially the gap between each lens. Kids are still growing and most headset lens’ don’t close far enough to work effectively for children which can cause headaches and other discomforts.
 
@rhondalee no problem. I let my kids have a play occasionally too and I was curious as to why there was an age rating for one so I looked into it. So yeah, there is nothing saying that’s kids can’t play it, we just have to be more careful, ensure they have regular breaks and limit play times.
 
We got the Quest 2 when it came out as my son was desperate for it. I actually play it more than him now 😂 But for us it has been well worth the money. I want the Quest 3 but it's just too expensive for us right now.
 
The quest 2 is probably the most accessible place to start. It works on its own, but if you have a good modern PC or laptop with an Nvidia or AMD GPU you can connect the Quest (USB or over WiFi) and play PC VR games too. These have much better graphical fidelity.
If you can use PC VR via the Oculus app (or whatever it’s called now) I highly HIGHLY recommend checking out Google Earth VR. It’s incredible exploring your town or the entire world like a giant model village. (Plus it's FREE)
Meta Quest 3 is an improved version of the Quest 2 and has full-colour pass-through cameras so you can wander around the real world with a normal view but have videos and virtual monitors floating around you or play augmented reality games. It’s a lot more expensive though as it’s the latest model.
You can pair both of these headsets to your phone/tablet/web browser to see what the person using the VR headset can see.
Tips: Clear plenty of room. Keep pets out of the way. Take regular breaks. Follow the tutorials and start with simple apps and games where you don’t move (virtually using the thumb sticks) much. It’s tempting to jump into fast cars, space ships, and rollercoasters but until you’ve got your ‘VR legs’ some people can feel queasy easily.
PSVR is the PlayStation VR. This doesn’t work on its own and only works when connected to a PS4 or a PS5 (with an adapter for the camera)
PSVR2 like its predecessor doesn’t work by itself, but this model only works with a PS5
As mentioned Quests work by themselves or with a PC, but aren’t compatible with PlayStation.
 
@rhondalee You're welcome 🙂 Beat Saber is a good safe starting point as you stand on the spot and things come towards you. It's a fun and addictive party game too trying to beat each other's score.
 
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