Facebook's VR use policy was updated recently, and now includes information about invading personal space, and other types of improper gestures.
https://support.oculus.com/1694069410806625/Facebook’s newly updated ‘Conduct in VR Policy‘ highlights that you should not “harass or bully other users” by “invading personal space without consent,” nor should you “conduct yourself in an offensive or abusive way,” including making “sexual gestures.”
No doubt that this will only add fuel to the fires currently burning around the controversy between:
- Banned from a Social Media Service
- Banned from using a piece of Hardware you purchased
I agree that this is very problematic. I would personally be upset if Facebook banned my Account and tried to lock me out of my headset. But I also have a fairly strong sense of the types of behavior and should and should not be doing when interacting with others. And considering that I am far from a model student for "good behavior," I still can't help but wonder what types of things truly trigger a Facebook ban, outside of blatantly obvious rule violations. Until this ban/lockout happens to me, though, I feel like I don't have much of a dog in this fight.
What does interest me from all of this... is that "convergence" of VR and Real Life. At this stage, Oculus VR is being treated like a "real world." And violating rules, much like violating Laws, is having real consequences that can limit ones freedoms. When I set aside the moral dilemma around Consumer Rights, I can't help but thing... wow! How far we have come with technology.
With a ban from Oculus VR, not only are you prevented from using a product, but you are no longer allowed to "exist" in a Social Space that goes beyond a mere flat screen. That's kinda crazy, and gives a small glimpse of the future for humanity, virtual worlds, and Artificial Intelligence.