Hacker News Reader

Comment by cmrdporcupine | Hacker News Reader

Well, no thank you. I have enough problems getting my teens - - especially my son -- to live the real world, to make friends, socialize, get outside, breath fresh air, and get off touch screens and games.

I won't let VR goggles enter my home. I'm not the only one. Maybe it's the future, but I'll hold it off as long as I can -- especially if it's Facebook, with all their ethical blindness and attention monopolizing -- that's pushing it.

View on HN

The funny thing is that this tech is far more social than phones and computers ever were. When you hang out with a friend in VR, you actually can end up feeling like you hung out and had a silly fun time, like you had really gone out for a round of mini golf.

Thanks won’t claim that VR is better than being outside, but to me it seems a hell of a lot better than sitting on the couch with a phone.

I spent a lot of my teens on MUDs & MOOs (really, textual VR), so I understand the substance of what you're saying, but

Honestly, the full sensual immersion of VR is the last thing we need in our house at this point after 2 years of COVID. I need my kids to get more physical exercise and time outside this house, not less.

And I am not trying to convince you to buy in, just trying to correct some misconceptions about the tech. VR, depending on the app can be awesome exercise. The best games are very physical and while it may not be a gym workout, it is miles better than watching tv or playing console games.

Just a few examples, rhythm games like Beat Saber, Pistol Whip and Synth Riders are at least on the level of Zumba or other aerobic dance exercises. Thrill of the Fight is a boxing game that is seriously intense and one of the best stress busters I have ever seen. Even something like eleven table tennis is essentially identical to playing real table tennis so is also much better than being a couch potato. VR is part of my and many other people’s overall fitness regimen.

Of course you need to set some limits, but I actually look forward to going on adventures together with my son in VR. Why not embrace it? When I was young, my parents showed zero interest in my gaming interests. At one point I even bought a game specifically because I hoped it would be something my dad and I could enjoy together (based on his interests, not mine), and all I got was a shrug. They're great parents and I love them, but I wish they'd engaged a bit more. To them video games and PCs didn't really exist. I want to experience cool new worlds with my kids, if they'll let me.

We play games together and his interests are often sparked by mine. But the dark side to gaming in the 21st century is they can easily become all-encompassing at the expense of a lot of things that I mentioned above (outside interests, etc.) Much of the modern gaming stack is engineered for total immersion and focus stealing, and leaves little room for outside interests.

I played games as a boy and young man as well. But I also wrote BASIC and 6502 assembly, or built forts in the woods, looked at neat plants, soldered projects for my VIC-20 or Atari ST, read ElfQuest graphic novels and acted them out with my friends, explored the local RadioShack, rode my bike, etc. The nature of my son's gaming obsessions has actually made it hard to get him to diversify.

Parenting is not easy. Defining limits is hard, but if you don't things can go sideways really badly and we have learned this the hard way.

That is something I'm definitely worried about. I don't let my 4-year old play on tablets and phones, but I do let him use the PC as I feel mastering it could lead to more creative uses of technology. But the fact is that games have come a long way since the 90s when I played (not even online at that point), so if it was consuming then it must be much more so today. I'm not sure how to deal with that. On the one hand I'm glad my parents didn't really limit my use of the PC as it let me explore freely, but doing so today may not be an option.

Regarding VR specifically, I feel like limiting it comes more naturally _because_ it is so all-encompassing. It should be regarded as a special activity that you do for short bursts of time, en preferably as a social activity. It also helps that it's quite physical compared to other types of games. But in the end I guess we'll have to introduce these things slowly and watch how our kids handle it. If they show addictive tendencies it might be time to limit it.

while i appreciate what you want for your sun, jumping to "I won't let VR goggles into my home" doesn't seem like a reasonable response either.

Will you also ban game consoles and televisions? Will you limit his internet usage to wikipedia, and only non sexual articles?

There is a lot of room between 'I don't support meta's endeavours' and 'BAN VR', and you've jumped directly on the extreme end of a scale for seemingly no reason.

i dunno, sounds reasonable to me. As parents sometimes we just need to say no. And not defend that to randos on internet.

Sure you don’t need to defend it but you should be able to.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com