Meta establishes four-foot “personal boundary” to deter VR groping [Updated]

Enlarge / In the metaverse the actual boundaries will be invisible, but the results will be the same. (credit: Meta)

In the real world, the idea of personal space is ingrained from a young age and enforced mainly by unspoken interpersonal contract and subtle social pressure. In the world of virtual reality, on the other hand, Facebook parent Meta is now using software enforce a four-foot zone of "personal space" for each avatar in its metaverse-style social spaces.

As detailed in a recent blog post, Meta's Horizon Worlds and Horizon Venues spaces now include a default personal boundary that "prevents avatars from coming within a set distance of each other, creating more personal space for people and making it easier to avoid unwanted interactions."

Circle of Protection: Metaverse. (credit: Meta)

The system in effect sets up an invisible cylinder with a two-foot radius that surrounds each avatar; if user movement would cause two cylinders to overlap, "the system will halt their forward movement as they reach the boundary" without any other overt feedback. Two users will be able to jointly reach outside their personal boundary for interactions like a high-five or fist-bump, Meta writes. Having the system on by default will "help to set behavioral norms-and that's important for a relatively new medium like VR," Meta writes.

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