Personal Bubble Setting
Settings that allow a user to create a buffer zone and be free from physical harassment.
How does this mitigate hate?
Multiplayer virtual reality platforms that provide users the ability to physically interact with other user avatars enable users with the ability to physically harass users, under the guise of their avatar.
When to use it?
Multiplayer virtual-reality platforms that experience physical harassment between users’ avatars, should use this pattern to prevent users from interacting physically with others without the consent of both users.
Including this pattern before the issue arises could help to eliminate the potential for physical harassment to occur, by requiring users to provide consent before they can interact physically with other users.
How does it work?
When a users enters the bubble around another user, their avatar body will become invisible inside of that range. The bubble itself can be either visible or invisible.
These settings could be configured by users if desired, but they should default to a three foot radius around the avatar of users.
Advantages
Restricting physical interaction to a specified range from a user’s avatar mitigates inappropriate physical interactions with other users because of the inability to physically interact with another user without their consent.
Disadvantages
Restricting physical interactions in VR could encourage harassers to pursue alternative forms of harassment. Platforms should be wary of any alternative harassment trends in that could arise in response to physical interaction restrictions.
References
ADL. “Hate in Social VR.” Anti-Defamation League, n.d. https://www.adl.org/resources/reports/hate-in-social-virtual-reality.