Virtual reality: 26% of teens own a VR device, but many seldom use it

Yahoo Finance's Brian Cheung and Akiko Fujita discuss the chart of the day on teen usage of virtual reality devices.

Video Transcript

BRIAN CHEUNG: Well, it is 11:28 and 43 seconds, which means, of course, it is time for our Chart of the Day. Piper Sandler survey of teens says 26% own a virtual reality device, but this chart breaks out the engagement among those that do have one. About 48% saying their Oculus headsets are just collecting dust. They seldom use it. And that's compared to only 12% that say they moderately use it. And Akiko, neither of us are teens, but I know that you have a VR headset, so which one of those buckets do you fall into? Are you using it often, or--

AKIKO FUJITA: I've got it right here, Brian.

BRIAN CHEUNG: OK, all right.

AKIKO FUJITA: And I'm dusting it off a little. I have to say that I've had it for several months. There's just not enough content out there to keep that headset on. And by the way, the technology has improved significantly, but I still kind of get a headache wearing it. And I don't know-- maybe because I'm not a teen. Maybe I'm too old. But I do wonder. I keep hearing the technology is going to improve significantly. So many companies investing in the Metaverse, but it might just be a function of what's in the virtual universe right now.

BRIAN CHEUNG: Yeah, I mean, I was going to say, Akiko, you had an opportunity to try it out when we watch the Super Bowl, but you forgot to bring it. You had the whole NFL experience there. But I mean, look, it speaks to one of the big use cases, actually, for these virtual reality headsets, which is sports lately.

I mean, my home team, the Brooklyn Nets, has introduced what they call the Netaverse, where, during home games, you can watch from seemingly the courtside in virtual reality a game in real-time. But I guess, still, like you mentioned, the technology still a little bit buggy. It's a little-- I've tried it before. It is a little sickness inducing, for sure.

AKIKO FUJITA: It has improved considerably. It definitely has, but you're right. I do think, to your point, sports is a huge use case. It already is. That's when I would definitely put the headset on for, maybe not the entire game, though. That might make me a little nauseous.

BRIAN CHEUNG: Yeah, for me, I think like 15 minutes is the hard stop for me. But hey, we'll see if it gets any better. I actually don't have a VR headset, so feeling very boomer ish. I mean, I guess, Akiko, you're--

AKIKO FUJITA: I'm going to bring this over for you, Brian. You can try it out.

BRIAN CHEUNG: OK, sounds good. I'll use it to watch the next Nets game.

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