The usual worry about a virtual reality headset under the tree is that you can't look over the child's shoulder. But, actually you can. It takes a phone and about a minute.
In the Meta Horizon app, tapping Menu, then Family Center, then the child's account brings up a Watch live option that streams what the child is seeing at that moment, according to Meta's support documentation. The headset has to be online and the phone has to be on the same wireless network. It will not work if the child is already streaming or casting to another screen.
Watching on a television is harder than it once was. Meta dropped direct Chromecast support, so the workaround is to send the picture to a phone and mirror the phone to the TV.
What makes any of this work is the account, and that is the setting families most often get wrong. Meta sets a minimum age of 10, and children younger than that are not permitted to have a Meta account or use the headset at all. An account for a child aged 10 to 12 has to be created and managed by a parent. Those accounts limit voice chat to contacts the parent has approved one by one, hide worlds rated 18 and older completely, and switch on a personal boundary that keeps other users from crowding in — a setting parents are not allowed to turn off.
Parents managing an account can also cap daily headset time and schedule breaks, and every title in the store carries an age rating from the International Age Rating Coalition.
A child playing on a grown-up's account gets none of it. Meta now prompts users to reconfirm their birthdate, and anyone who has to correct a wrong one is asked to verify it with a photo ID or a credit card.
Rick Good spent ten years in the newspaper business, including with The News & Observer (Raleigh, NC) and The Greenville News (Greenville, SC). He co-wrote, with Melinda Coleman, Rutledge to Riley: Governors of South Carolina, 1776–Present (Published by The Greenville News), and is the author of Mind Games Trivia #1 (Amazon). He has recently spent 15 years creating original trivia content through Sounds Good Mobile Entertainment and continues that with his new company, SGME Software. He edits The Smart Reader’s money, real estate, and business coverage.
