To make Metaverse feel safe to users, Facebook parent Meta Platforms launched Personal Boundary on Friday to tackle harassment in the virtual world, after Nina Jane Patel, a mother-of-four, alleged that three male VR avatars pursued her and assaulted her within 60 seconds of joining the Metaverse.
To stop people from invading an avatar's personal space in VR, the new tool creates an invisible barrier. However, an avatar can stretch out their hand to give a fist-bump or a high-five.
Personal Boundary provides a roughly four virtual feet (1.2 meters) distance between their avatar and others. By default, the new feature is being turned on in the Horizon Worlds creation platform and the Horizon Venues live event service.
If someone tries to enter an avatar’s Personal Boundary, the system will halt their forward movement as they reach the boundary. Vice President, Horizon - Meta, Vivek Sharma stated that Meta would explore a possibility of adding in new controls and UI, like changing the size of their Personal Boundary.
