Peter Schorsch
After launching its Quest 2 in 2020, Meta has worked to create safer virtual reality spaces for teens by helping parents prepare for the new technology.
Now, they’ve launched Meta Quest Parental Supervision feature, a set of tools designed to create safety and supervision. Parents are able to set levels of supervision for their teens, including connecting directly to their child’s account; setting age-appropriate content requirements; monitoring screen time; and reviewing friends and apps.
By allowing parents to connect to their teen’s account, Meta’s safety features allow parents to require requested access to apps they’re not old enough to use.
The new feature removes default access to VR apps in which the teen does not meet minimum age recommendations, set by the International Age Rating Coalition. Instead, the young user must request access and a parent or guardian can determine whether to grant it. Likewise, parents and guardians can block access to specific apps they may find inappropriate. They can also block access to Oculus Link and Air Link to prevent kids from accessing content from their PC on the Quest headset.
Parents can also monitor how much time their teens are spending playing online, as well as view the apps their teen owns and how long they’ve used them over the previous seven days.
The tools also allows parents and guardians to monitor who their friends are interacting with in VR, a tool meant to allow parents to have conversations with their children about appropriate interactions.
The new tools also notify parents or guardians when their teen buys or downloads an app and allows them to block purchases on an individual basis.
Meta has also increased transparency within its parental controls, providing a read-only feature for teens to see when parental approval is required to access certain VR experiences.
