Samsung's new Gear VR app will let children view virtual reality bedtime stories when their parents are away on summer vacations or business trips. It provides a high-tech alternative to reading a nighttime story from a children's book. The VR app could also be a good solution for kids who cannot fall asleep, or miss their dad or mom.
Samsung's prototype app is called Bedtime VR. It would require two VR headsets and allow the parent to read a bedtime story to their son or daughter when they are physically away due to situations such as a trip or divorce.
The parent would use a Gear VR device while the child would only need a Google Cardboard headset, according to Android Authority. Big benefits of Cardboard include its rock-bottom $20 price tag and ability to work with almost all Android mobile devices.
However, the new Gear VR app could raise some possible issues. They include medical experts' warning that staring at glowing LCD screens before bedtime could prevent kids from falling asleep. Another issue is that the 360-degree video seems to diverge from the practice of kids hearing stories and images that they know by heart.
Yet another issue is that little research has been done about how VR affects early childhood development, according to Tech Crunch. Medical doctors have not discovered whether wearing a VR headset for 5-10 minutes per day would have a major effect on a child's brain.
In fact, many tech companies including Samsung have advised that VR should be used by kids who are around 10 to 12 years old. However, the target market for the bedtime story app seems to be younger grade school children or kindergarteners.
Virtual reality tech is improving quickly. VR bedtime stories are one way that developers and consumers are thinking up new ways it will affect people's day-today lives in the future.
Video games and entertainment are some of the most common applications of VR. However, VR bedtime stories are one of the ways the new technology can provide an alternative to voice calls, text messages, and social networks.
Samsung has not announced when the new bedtime story app would be available to the public.