is the oculus quest 2 or vr in general bad for kids eyes
i'm actually going to commit the ultimate sin on youtube and give you my answer and
my reasons at the beginning of the video and then i'll explain why let's focus in
hey howdy this is dr neal guymon, dr eyeguy, and right off the bat i do want to say that
this topic does make me a little bit nervous as an eye doctor to give recommendations mainly because
there hasn't been a lot of long-term research that has been done on vr and kids eyes and so
my recommendations in this video could change with more information and more research that
gets released in the future and if it does i'll definitely make an updated video but it does feel
like as an eye doctor i am kind of taking a risk i'm kind of sticking my neck out a little bit
but i'm gonna do it anyway now as promised the answer to the main question of the video is vr bad
for kids eyes i'm gonna break that down into two specific questions is vr bad for a child's vision
the answer to that one is no i'm not finding any significant evidence that shows that vr will
cause a visual refractive issue meaning it won't cause nearsightedness farsightedness astigmatism
at least not any more than any other screen type of use like ipads phones or computers the other
more specific question will vr actually damage eye health the answer to this one is potentially yes
extended use on vr devices just like extended use on screen times like computer phone tablets
could lead to a development of dry eye issues in the long run another side question that could be
part of these questions will the blue light damage the child's eyes will damage the eyes
no at least more research is needed to be done on that will cause digital eye strain that's kind of
mixed that's a maybe more research is showing that blue light won't affect digital eye strain
or cause digital eye strain could the blue light affect that child's sleep cycle and that's a yes
and that's kind of a big one and i'll explain more later okay now for my recommendations number one
you want to try and stay as strict to the 20 20 20 rule as much as possible that's every 20 minutes
they're going to take a 20 second break looking 20 feet away make sure that they're blinking
getting a drink pretty much just taking a break number two how long should a child be playing
in vr this one's a little bit tricky because my recommendation might change if more information
comes out but i think you are definitely safe at the 30 minute mark 30 minutes and under
your child should be safe it shouldn't cause any long lasting eye effects if you are staying strict
at the 20 20 20 rule you can definitely extend that out to 40 minutes as long as they're taking
a break in the middle mark there number three in regards to the blue light possibly affecting
their sleep cycle you want to try and avoid the vr device or any other screen time for that matter
at least two hours before they go to bed this will give them the best chance to have a very restful
sleep number four this recommendation is for the parents just be aware of the child's eyes if they
get done playing their eyes are red or they're getting a headache or their eyes are watery
then definitely you want to start cutting back on time maybe not let them play vr
because that could show signs that their eyes are really straining they're maybe having blurry
vision it's causing eye headaches maybe they're more sensitive to the light and so just be aware
of what their eyes look like or how they're acting right after they're done playing vr okay now that
i give my answers and recommendations we can go into a little bit more detail if you've made it
this far into this video kudos to you if you like this type of format definitely hit that
like button for me they'll let me know do you like this and i can do more of that in the future
now as far as vr causing any eye visual issues in children that topic at least with other screen
type of usage ipads phones computers has been studied quite a bit because our world is now
really close to us and people more kids are becoming more and more nearsighted every day and
so the leading theory is hey you know our world's right here we're adapting to that world and so
it's causing us to be more nearsighted now the reason why i said no to that one is because there
isn't really any significant evidence that shows that vr systems are causing those same issues
partly because the focal point of the vr device is actually set a little bit further in the distance
then kids would be looking at their screens or their computer screens and so for anything vr
might be a little bit better as far as where the world is at the the focal point is set a little
bit farther out so unless other evidence comes out on that one that's a no for me now the next
question could be actually damage to ocular health and i see this as being the biggest issue with vr
in children and adults in fact i talked a little bit more about it and how vr might damage the
eyes definitely check out that video but this definitely applies to children as well in fact
more and more these days at a younger and younger age us eye doctors are actually seeing problems
in oil of oil glands in the younger generation and it can definitely be contributed to extra screen
time computers phones ipads and vr is definitely guilty of this as well this could cause problems
with the oil glands of the eyelids it could cause the oil glands to atrophy cause eyes to get dry
red inflamed and down the road could cause potential long-lasting possibly irreversible
effects and this is the biggest reason why my recommendation for the 20 20 20 rule is there if
you're gonna let your child use vr try and be as strict as possible to that 20 20 20 rule to give
them a break make sure that they're blinking make sure that their eyes aren't red and watery and dry
have them get a drink just so they can get a break and get those oil glands pumping now with a blue
light issue blue light has been shown to affect your sleep cycle in children and adults if they
don't get a restful sleep this could definitely affect their school progression it could affect
memory and their learning abilities and so that's why i definitely gave that recommendation
that if they're going to use the vr try and limit that vr so they aren't using it at least two hours
before bedtime just to give them the best chance at a restful night's sleep now i know i'll get
the question what if i wear the blue light filter or if i change it to the night mode could i play
you know right up to bedtime and then take it off and go to bed it definitely will help but i would
still try and stay away from it two hours before bedtime it does block a lot of the blue light but
not all of it and it could still potentially affect your sleep cycle now as far as how long
a child can actually play vr during the day this may be dependent on the child and what i want you
to do is actually add the vr time to that child's normal screen time computers ipads phones because
it is extra screen time and not just dealing with eyes when kids have an increased screen time it
can definitely have other effects on behavioral issues social issues and so definitely be aware
of that because the vr time will be added to that other time now one thing that i do want to mention
on the vr devices they do have an ipd selection on there and a lot of times with children their ipd
is definitely a lot more narrow than the lowest setting on the oculus quest 2 or other vr devices
and so that's something to be aware of because they might not be looking directly through the
middle of those lenses so the lenses or the vr might be blurry it might cause them to strain a
little bit and so that's something just definitely to be aware of especially if they're getting
headaches even after 20 minutes of using the vr if they're having that then i'd definitely wait
maybe hold off on letting them use vr now i do want to state in this video to be aware of the age
restrictions on the oculus quest 2 and other vr devices 13 12 and younger depending on the device
and that's what they're saying shouldn't be using the vr and a lot of that they are airing on
the side of caution as well mainly because vr is fairly new especially in children and so they want
to put that aid restriction just to be on the safe side and i actually agree with them there we'll
probably see the age restrictions being lowered in the future especially for educational use in
fact in some eye doctors offices they're using vr devices for certain eye training to treat certain
eye conditions and so vr can definitely have a lot of benefits even on the eyes bottom line and this
is the age-old recommendation moderation is best make sure that they have a time limit on the vr
make sure that they're taking breaks every 20 minutes checking their eyes afterwards seeing
if they have headaches red eyes watery eyes making sure that they don't play two hours before bedtime
now if i feel like i didn't cover everything in the video definitely check the description below
i'll put helpful links down there also if you have any questions feel free to leave them in
the comments i'll definitely do my best to answer all of your questions and i'm dr neal guymon,
dr eyeguy focusing on you and your eyes definitely check out my other vr videos right there or any
other dr eye guy videos right there stay focused and i'll see you in the next video