 |
| Meta adds anti-harassment tools to Metaverse |
The owner of Facebook Meta said it is rolling out a tool for people using its social virtual reality platform to limit personal space amid growing concerns about user safety and sexual harassment in the Metaverse.
The new Personal Frontier tool gives users the feeling that their avatar is about 1.2 meters away from others when accessing the Horizon n Worlds and Horizon n Venues apps through a VR headset.
The company says that this new default setting makes it easier to avoid unnecessary interactions. The change comes amid warnings from users of virtual reality platforms, including Horizon Worlds, of virtual harassment and other abuse.
Facebook changed its name to Meta and invested heavily in virtual and augmented reality to reflect its new bet on the Metaverse.
Metaverse is the futuristic idea of a network of virtual environments that can be accessed on different devices. Users can work, socialize and play with it.
Horizon Worlds, a massive virtual reality social platform, and Horizon Venues, which focus on virtual events, are early versions of Metaverse-like spaces.
Shares of the company, which pumped billions into its ambitions, fell 26% a few days ago, the largest one-day decline in the market value of an American company.
This comes after the social media giant issued a disappointing forecast. He also accused Apple of changing privacy and increasing competition.
The company has long been under scrutiny by lawmakers and regulators around the world for its handling of problematic content and abuse on existing social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram.
META adds personal boundaries to stop harassment
Meta said the new tool builds on its own hand-harassing actions. When they invade a person's personal space, the avatar's hand disappears.
It also currently has a safe zone feature that activates bubbles around the avatar when people feel threatened.
The company believes that new personal boundaries help set standards for behavior. But there is still much to be done.
Mita said she will continue to test and explore new ways to make people feel comfortable in virtual reality. The company plans to add controls, for example the ability to change the size of their personal limits in the future.