Reports have emerged of instances of groping in Meta’s virtual reality world, Horizon. In response, the company has introduced a new “personal boundary” feature to protect users from unwanted interactions. Horizon Worlds is an online virtual world created by Meta, accessible through Oculus VR headsets. Users can design their own online world, meet and interact with other VR users, and even organize virtual events.
Meta, formerly known as Facebook, has faced significant scrutiny recently, particularly due to financial losses in the stock market. The company now faces additional criticism following the virtual groping controversy. A beta tester shared her disturbing experience on the Horizon Worlds beta testing group on Facebook, revealing that she had been groped by a stranger in the virtual reality world. What made matters worse was that other users supported this behavior, intensifying the woman’s distress. Sexual harassment is already a serious issue on traditional social media platforms, but the immersive nature of virtual reality amplifies the impact.
To address this problem and alleviate concerns, Meta has introduced the “personal boundary” feature for Horizon Worlds. This feature allows users to maintain a distance of two feet from others, preventing avatars from encroaching on their personal space. As a result, the total distance between two avatars will be four feet. Meta hopes that this feature will help prevent harassment and create a safer environment for users.
The company acknowledges that not all users or avatars will have an issue with others approaching them closely. Therefore, Meta plans to explore the possibility of allowing users to customize the size of their personal boundaries in future updates. In the meantime, users will need to extend their arms to interact with each other in the virtual reality world.
Meta recognizes the importance of finding the right solution to these issues. They believe that virtual reality should be inclusive and accessible to everyone. However, Facebook has faced criticism in the past for bullying and harassment on its social media platform, and Meta aims to avoid similar problems in the metaverse. They will closely monitor the impact of the personal boundary feature on users’ experiences and continue making improvements to ensure a safe and enjoyable virtual reality environment.
