Buying a VR Device for Senior Citizens

I had to get input from my my siblings and friends, cus I found very little about buying VR devices like Oculus for baby boomers online.

Purchase Considerations

TL;DR: I am buying an Oculus Quest 2 for my baby boomer parents.

What to buy?

There is a ton of online content for "which device to purchase" so I will keep this short. 

I was drawn to the Oculus specifically because it is stand-alone. Other devices on the market expect that you have a video game console or laptop loaded with games. In short, I am not a gamer, and neither are my parents.

My decision was solidified after I read this line in PC Magazine: "Oculus is phasing out the Rift S and focusing entirely on the Quest platform going forward." 

Oculus Quest is made for someone like my baby boomer mama. She is exactly the type of customer for whom Steve Jobs changed the world: she understood the value of computers but had no time to tinker. MacBooks, iPhones and iPads (not to mention user-friendly software like Facebook & Google products) have made her a connected woman, in a way that never would have happened for her with PCs.

My dad is a big nerd, so he could have learned to enjoy the Oculus Rift. But it's being phased out- PLUS I am definitely only buying a single Oculus device for their household, at least for now. As previously mentioned, retirement accounts are important- and the price of an Oculus Quest 2 is currently 300 USD in America or 400 CAD in Canada before tax.

When to buy?

My little brother made an important point: our mom gets motion sickness. My sister and I have both had slightly dizzying experiences with VR in the past, so it was a very good catch. I've spoken with a friend who uses Oculus in his Occupational Therapy profession, he estimates he's only seen motion sickness as a problem for 1 of 50 patients, which I find promising. Additionally, he advised that there are so many apps, perhaps some don't cause motion sickness. This same friend also advised to review the seizure precautions, which I found on the Oculus website and apparently apply more to children and young people.

I hope my mom can use the Oculus, but we'll frame it as a gift for my dad. Thus, I will delay the Oculus purchase for my parents by a few months and give it to them on my dad's birthday in the spring. My parents live in Canada, I live in US. So when I eventually buy his device, I may update this blog to reflect my experience buying an Oculus in Canada.

In the meantime, however, I have purchased an Oculus Quest 2 for my household (myself and my fiancé), and while we are planning to play games and experiment, I am also planning to install the AARP app called Alcove for myself, so I can learn to use it and personalize the app's virtual space, to make it as comforting as possible when my parents finally try it.

Additional Considerations

At time of posting, it appears that Oculus can only accommodate one user account per device. This is slated to change by mid-Feb 2021, when multiple users can log into a single headset, and share apps across accounts. This missing feature would have really annoyed me, but I can handle it for a few weeks.

In summary, I have ordered a Oculus Quest 2 for myself, will spend some time learning it & setting up the virtual space in Alcove, then welcome my parents to the VR world in the spring. Meaning, the next few blog posts will be dedicated to learning Oculus with an eye towards baby boomer use, but I won't have any real-life experience or feedback till the spring.

Last Note

VR devices are not cheap, and I believe you'll do more good for your family by investing in your retirement account, and avoiding credit card debt, carefully saving your money before buying any type of device, even as gifts for your parents. Won't go further cus there are already a zillion forums dedicated to financial independence.