Will this VR technology one day take over this parent-child bonding time as the electronics giant suggests?
“The future of children’s bedtime” in the form of a mobile app with Samsung virtual reality stories has now been unveiled with the goal of giving kids a much more three dimensional version of the tales they once had to imagine in their minds.
The Bedtime VR Stories app has been created with the purpose of underscoring the importance of story time.
However, as much as the Samsung virtual reality experience was unveiled with the statement that it “combines the latest innovations in virtual reality with the power and importance of traditional storytelling,” it has not been without some controversy. While many people have been fascinated with the concept and have applauded the company’s innovation with the new use of a VR experience, others have questioned whether or not this technology should be considered appropriate. After all, it not only steps into a traditional child-parent bonding time but it also reduces the need for the kid to actually listen and imagine as he or she can simply watch the story in front of – and around – him or her.
However, supporters of the Samsung virtual reality bedtime experience have said this is not the case.
The truth of the matter is that Samsung isn’t attempting to use this VR technology to replace the times when they would interact with their children at bedtime. In fact, when parents are home and able to read a story to their kids, they are encouraged to do so. The company has certainly applauded the value of that time.
The purpose of this technology is meant to be for parents who aren’t able to be there with the child at bedtime for various reasons. Perhaps they’ve gone away on a business trip. Maybe the child’s parents are separated and the mom or dad who isn’t with the child that night would still like to offer the important experience of bedtime stories.
Regardless of how actual parents will choose to use the Samsung virtual reality experience, it isn’t something that is available to the public quite yet. It will use the Gear VR headset and is currently in a prototype testing phase among UK families.
