Meta Wants To Stop People Invading Your Avatar’s Personal Space
Meta recently changed how avatars interact in virtual reality to prevent people from invading someone else's personal space. It might sound strange at first, but a person does identify with their VR form as if it was their own body. As such, a person crowding in on a user's avatar might feel oppressive, and VR worlds need to consider these comfort issues.
The classic 'rubber hand illusion' demonstrates that most people quickly form relationships to false limbs, and there is a moment of panic if the third fake hand is threatened with a knife. In the same way, when a hammer is held, the brain no longer perceives it simply as a tool but instead as an extension of the limb and incorporates it as a body part. This same psychology applies to VR, where the more significant sensory input of a motion-detecting headset, such as Meta Quest, makes the virtual world and the user's avatar feel almost real.
Considering how people identify with their avatars in VR, it makes sense to consider personal space. In many multi-user experiences, someone else's avatar can get too close for comfort. Meta recently adjusted how avatars can interact in its first Metaverse-like apps, Horizon Worlds and Horizon Venues. Called 'Personal Boundary,' an invisible barrier surrounds each person when using either app, preventing them from getting closer than what appears to be four feet. Of course, the people might be physically separated by thousands of miles.
Around the world, there are differing ideas about how close is too close, and Meta acknowledged that the four-foot boundary for avatars might need to be adjusted and even mentioned the possibility of allowing user control of this distance in the future. A recent Apple patent application about augmented reality and VR user interaction described a much more elaborate system with different rules depending on whether it was a friend or a stranger. If social norms were violated, the trouble-maker would fade out or disappear if continuing to abuse the shared space. Meta's simple four-foot barrier seems much easier to implement and should serve well enough in most cases.
Meta mentioned that fist bumps and high-fives would need to be done with arms extended given Meta's new Personal Boundary restriction, but it shouldn't impact user experience too much. This is an addition to Meta's existing 'hand harassment measure' that was already in place. If an avatar's hands get too close to someone else, they fade out, making it impossible to touch another person's avatar virtually. Meta needs to work out these social comfort issues in VR with well-defined rules and automated solutions, which is a step in the right direction.
Source: Meta, Scientific American