Meta to introduce 'Personal Boundaries' feature in metaverse

[Daniel Sims]

Why it matters: Oculus announced the addition of a feature in Facebook’s Oculus applications that establishes a minimum distance of contact between avatars. It comes in response to reports of sexual harassment between avatars in the company’s virtual worlds.

Today Meta rolled out "Personal Boundaries" in Horizon Worlds and Horizon Venues for the Oculus Quest. The one by default feature creates a barrier extending about four feet around each avatar. It will simply stop the forward motion of any avatar that hits it, with no haptic feedback.

The company says it introduced the personal bubbles—which it will tweak as needed—to help set social norms in VR. A previous feature already caused an avatar’s hand to disappear if it crossed someone’s personal space.

In November, a Meta beta tester reported another user in Horizon Worlds groped her. She reported and blocked the user but said the guide in the Horizon Worlds plaza--a sort of moderator--didn’t do anything. In the report, she asked for a protective “bubble” that would force people away, which seems to have led to Meta’s introduction of the new feature this week.

Metaverse researcher Nina Jane Patel claimed she was gang-raped in one of the virtual spaces. A few male avatars surrounded hers, took photos, and verbally harassed her within 60 seconds of her joining. Other cases of VR sexual harassment go back to the early years of modern VR headsets.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/93274-meta-introduce-personal-boundaries-feature-metaverse.html

 

[mgwerner]

I bet they will have masks for the avatars as well. To keep everyone safe......

 

[hahahanoobs]

Metaverse:
Technology used to put a digital face on the scum you encounter online.

 

[MyIOnU]

Why would anyone want to be in the world that under control of Zuck !!!

 

[m4a4]

...I just can't take this seriously. No one can touch you in VR, they can only "touch" your avatar (big difference). If you can't separate the 2, then you probably shouldn't be using it.

If they were acting based on verbal harassment (or obscene gestures?), I would understand. But lets not pretend that physical touch can happen.

 

[Nobina]

Meta is what the world would be like under the Zucc. In it, you have none of the privacy, a bunch of rules for your "safety" and no way to evade them.

 

[Michael7]

Meta - a digital world under control of Zuck. You would have to be nuts to go there.

 

[Geralt]

Personal boundaries to have your a$$ clean and safe.

 

[Reinette Tineker]

Why would anyone want to be in the world that under control of Zuck !!!

I remember Google+. It was better than Zuker's obscene products. Judging by what's going on - all of his "initiatives" smell bad.

 

[Uncle Al]

What would really help? A couple for days on Wall Street like last Friday when Meta lost 20% of their market and one heck of a lot of money including Smuckerburg ......

 

[McKocoa]

What is the target audience of meta? Is it trolls?

 

[human7]

...I just can't take this seriously. No one can touch you in VR, they can only "touch" your avatar (big difference). If you can't separate the 2, then you probably shouldn't be using it.

If they were acting based on verbal harassment (or obscene gestures?), I would understand. But lets not pretend that physical touch can happen.

It's not about whether they can actually touch you, it's about the intention behind the act. If one is "groping" another virtually, there is no question what the intent or communication is.