There was a time when, if a man asked a group of children if they wanted to test out his "Oculus Rift", he would be arrested on a multitude of charges. Nowadays, though, not only does no one think it's weird, but they end up calling it 'science'. Dubit, a youth research and digital entertainment firm, recently carried out a program to test what children think of the Oculus Rift headset, the virtual reality game-changer that has us all chomping at the bit. The results are, unsurprising, overwhelmingly positive.
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The study consisted of a sample size of 12 children, aged 7 to 12. The kids played a variety of games from the first development kit version and were then split off into pairs to talk about the strengths and weaknesses of the Oculus Rift.
"The overarching message from our sessions is that children love using Oculus Rift and felt immersed in the games in ways they've never felt before! Comments along the lines of it being the best way to play games were common. Oculus VR may not see children as their core market but there's no doubting the device's potential popularity with kids." said Peter Robinson, Dubit's head of research. He noted that while the children had some trouble getting the headset on, the kids did not have any ill effects from wearing it for too long, but noted that the head movements could be a strain on younger players. However, with lighter headsets on the way "we don't see Oculus Rift causing many usability issues for young wearers."
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What was also striking was that many kids saw the potential of the Oculus Rift in not just entertainment, but in education. The headset could make education come alive and instead of having a teacher explain about geography or history, the Oculus Rift would allow students to travel there and interact with the environment or historical figures. Robinson noted that "education was identified as a key theme." Thankfully, they didn't sample teenagers, because I'm pretty sure education is still, like, totally square. Or something.
