Researcher 'raped' in Horizon Worlds metaverse
A young woman was sexually assaulted and harassed virtually within an hour of entering Meta's Horizon Worlds m etaverse, raising questions about the safety of the Meta platform and other metav erses. The 21-year-old researcher for SumOfUs was raped within one hour of using Horison Worlds, according (pdf) to a report by the non-profit. The woman was repeatedly told to 'turn around so he could do it from behind while users outside the window could see – all while another user in the room watched and passed around a vodka bottle'. When a user is touched by another in the metaverse, the hand controllers vibrate, 'creating a very disorienting and even disturbing physical experience during a virtual assault,' the researcher said of the non-consensual act. According to Meta, the researcher had turned off the metaverse's Personal Boundary feature t hat i s turned on by default and prevents non-friends from coming within 4 feet of one's avatar. System 🤖 Meta Horizon 🔗 Operator: SumOfUs Developer: Meta Country: USA Sector: Media/entertainment/sports/arts Purpose: Provide virtual social experience Technology: Virtual reality; Safety management system Issue: Safety
- Date it happened
- 2022-01-01
- Organisation involved
- SumOfUs
- Product, system or model
- Horizon Worlds
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