Meta thinks it’s a good idea for students to wear Quest headsets in class

Meta continues to face criticism for how it handles younger consumers using its platform, but the company is also planning new products that cater to them. On Monday, the company announced it would launch a new education product for Quest later this year, positioning its VR headset as the go-to device for classroom instruction.

The product has not yet been named, but Nick Clegg, the company’s president of global affairs, said in a blog post describing the product that the former politician turned Meta executive would most likely center around the more controversial and messaging on divisive topics. It will include a hub for education-specific apps and features, as well as the ability to manage multiple headsets simultaneously without having to update each device individually.

The business model for hardware and services has also yet to be clarified. With no progress, the company views it as a long-term bet.

“We recognize that this is going to take a long time and we’re not going to make any money on this in the short term,” Clegg told Axios.

On the plus side, a push into education could mean more diverse content for Quest users, as well as a broader developer ecosystem for the platform — not the killer that critics say is still missing in VR level app, but at least has more action.

On a more problematic note, this news comes on the heels of some other, less positive developments for the company. Meta’s messaging service WhatsApp has received widespread attention for lowering the minimum age for users in the UK and EU to 13 (previously 16).

Ahead of Monday’s announcement, Meta prompted Quest users to confirm their age in order to provide an appropriate experience for teens and pre-teens.

The new initiative will be rolled out later this year and will only apply to institutions with students aged 13 and over. Meta says it will first launch the product in 20 markets where Quest for Business is already supported, with Meta’s workplace-focused subscription priced at $14.99/month. The list includes the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and several other English-speaking markets, as well as Japan and much of Western Europe.

There are already a number of companies on the market exploring the idea of ​​classroom VR, including the likes of ImmersionVR, ClassVR, and ArborVR, not to mention the likes of Microsoft, which has been promoting its HoloLens as an educational tool for some time. .

It’s unclear how common VR is being used in schools: one provider, ClassVR, claims its product is being used in 40,000 classrooms worldwide.

But despite this, there are still barriers to mass-market use. For example, it’s unclear whether putting headphones on someone’s face would necessarily be helpful in an in-person educational setting, given some research. young people have got too much screen time that’s all.

Another big question mark will involve the cost of buying the headset — the Quest 3 is the newest headset, starting at about $500 each for the base model — buying the app, and then supporting all that infrastructure. Meta means already Donated Quest headsets are already supplied to 15 U.S. universities, but it’s unclear to what extent it will subsidize long-term growth.