Virtual reality desk claims another victim

Last week, my friend and colleague Ben Kuchera posted a video on Polygon about the hidden danger of virtual reality: leaning on a fake desk and falling on your tuchus. I admit, I still giggle at the image of a grown man wearing an expensive virtual reality headset, tethered to a loudly humming computer, dropping to the floor and bruising his tushie.

But I’ve wondered, since I watched the video, just how common this problem is — or how common it will be when virtual reality headsets spread to consumer in the coming months.

A GIF published to Reddit by Arsanus answers my question. A child, struggling to wear the large headset, searches through a virtual desk drawer that can be seen on a computer monitor in the background. Then the child leans over a virtual desk, and crashes to the floor.

This child is a hero. Seriously, y’all. This child learned the hard lesson — that virtual tables can’t hold real weight — so that the GIF might serve as a warning to future children and adults alike. Heed this warning, or one day this could be you. And a friendly reminder,  virtual reality is not designed for young children. Practice VR with caution, everybody.

I’m including Kuchera’s video so you can hear his explanation of the problem, which is delightful. And here’s a link to the full GIF.

This post first appeared on The Verge.