A Friend of your kid organised their next birthday Party at a Virtual Reality Gaming Arcade such as Mirage VR, Mississauga and now you are confused whether you should allow your kids to visit this place or not. What's Virtual Reality gaming, is it safe for my kids, read on to get clear picture.

A future where anyone can plug into a completely three-dimensional virtual world was a dream of mankind for a decades now. Virtual reality has provided a totally new level of immersive experience. VR provides us an amazing encounter of a physically unrealistic world where we can go to see places, attend events and be with people. It also provides endless possibilities for educational purposes. VR is raising the heat of popularity with every passing day and exceeding the limitations of real-world but still, there is a group of VR admirers' who is still in the little cold of negligence-CHILDREN

The minimum age limitation for VR gaming is 7+ but most of the headset manufacturers' set the age limit according to their hardware. SONY's play station VR has restricted the age limit 12. Oculus Rift and Samsung's Gear VR rate it of 13+. Only HTC has no specific age restrictions but it also warns its use for children.

In this situation discouraged parents like me and frustrated kids raise so many questions to ask:

• Why this age restriction is set?
• What may be the possible risks and damages a child could face?
• Are these limitations only for precautionary measures or is there true danger?

VR technology is relatively a totally new concept and we have not so much to know about its long-lasting effects especially for kids. But it does not mean that new is dangerous. If we contrast the effects of VR gaming on the kid with the effects of Smartphone on a kid, they are almost equal.

In fact, the VR headset mimics the instrument used to detect and treat Orthoptic issues e.g. lazy eyes. So, there might a possibility to use a VR headset to diagnose and treat eye problems, rather than create them.

There will be a common issue for children as well as for adults that are visually induced motion sickness (VIMS). It is due to the signals a brain receives from the VR images when a person moves and this can create motion sickness. Fairly speaking, it is just like experiencing a roller coaster ride. This problem may appear when the images provided by the headsets are inconsistent.

Although we don't know everything about VR  we know enough to take some pros and cons for our kids. We can provide our children with a safe experience of VR gaming by following some basic tips:

• VR gaming is a more intense experience than a normal one that is why to choose VR games wisely and check the suitability of content and subject of the game for your children.
• Be attentive towards the physical and emotional feelings of your children. If they are feeling dizzy, evacuate, anxious, sad, angry or sick to stomach--------then give them a break.
• Try to them a pleasant, informative and unique experience which they would not get normally see, such as a trip to a foreign country, a space tour or visit to a wildlife park. Avoid violent, full of noise and weapons gaming.
• VR provides so much real feeling that is why it is necessary to discuss with your children about what they experience in gaming. Try to know about what difference they feel in the real and virtual world or how they perceive by putting themselves in someone else shoes.
• A satisfactory break must be part of every VR gaming session. It is clinically advised to take a break of 10 minutes after an hourly VR session.
• It is a little annoying but a safe way to follow the age restrictions recommended by the headset manufacturers'. It is because the manufacturers have the best guess about who the product is safe.

I am convinced now for a safe VR gaming experience for my kids and suggest other parents to allow your child a limited but healthy and sensational VR gaming entertainment.