How Absolutely Meta

And by "Meta" I mean Facebook's efforts to create a virtual world.

It appears that, much like on Facebook, harassment is a problem that they have neglected to consider, so they are looking to stick on a few band-aids:

Meta Platforms Inc, better known for its controversial turn as Facebook, says its mission is to, "Give people the power to build community and bring the world closer together." But not too close, it seems.

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Henceforth, avatars in its Horizon Worlds and Horizon Venues will be able to approach no closer than four feet – as that distance would be rendered to whatever scale fits the viewer's display screen – to prevent virtual molestation.

Vivek Sharma, VP of Meta's Horizon group, refers to the company's grope gap as a "Personal Boundary."

"Personal Boundary 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," he explained in a blog post on Friday.

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"This builds upon our existing hand harassment measures that were already in place, where an avatar’s hands would disappear if they encroached upon someone’s personal space," Sharma explained.

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And it's a problem today. As the MIT Technology Review put it two months ago, "The metaverse has a groping problem already." The word "already" here might be better interpreted to mean "since forever."

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So strap on your VR headset and enjoy a romp in a pixelated world, secure in the knowledge that between the hand-hiding and invisible barriers no one will "reach out and touch someone," as AT&T used to suggest. Just be careful not to injure yourself, which happens occasionally, and if you experience nausea, eye strain, or loss of balance, discontinue use immediately. The Health and Safety warning documents for Meta Quest (Oculus) headsets are extensive [PDF].

This was foreseeable, of course, but Facebook is scrambling because they don't do the right thing unless they are forced to.