Meta’s Horizon Worlds to Introduce Text-Based ‘World Chat’ Feature
Meta is aiming to enhance the social aspect of its VR-based Horizon Worlds by introducing mini-games and granting access to younger teens. The company has recently launched a new feature called world chat, which enables users to send messages to other participants in the same world session. Meta has also assured users of stringent security measures for this new feature.
A voice chat feature is already available, but this works just like a regular text messaging app. The screenshot (below) shows a classic group text message interface involving multiple users. Messages for specific people appear as a floating bubble in their own view, and when clicked, a new conversation opens.
People can contact or follow other people in the conversation by clicking on the person’s name to see their profile and inviting them to connect, Meta said. You can @mention others in world chat if they are in the same world. It offers easy-to-use tools like quick replies so you can connect without typing long messages.
Along with World Chat, Facebook introduced tools “to help create a positive community experience,” it said. First, it automatically scans and removes posts that violate its code of conduct. It allows users to blur conversations so that messages from people they don’t know are blurred and their own conversations appear blurred to others. Users can report, block or mute anyone and minimize or hide the chat window.
The dimming setting is automatically enabled for teenagers aged 13–17. Meta is also expanding parental control tools so users can ensure their children “have an age-appropriate chat experience by changing or locking down obscure chat settings,” it wrote.
Earlier this year, US senators urged Meta not to open Horizon Worlds to younger teenagers because the company has failed to protect them. This concern appeared to be justified due to the recent widespread CSAM on Instagram. Meta did it anyway, promising to introduce age-specific tools and protections. “We need to build experiences that are tailored to the unique vulnerabilities of teenagers,” the company said at the time. Meta recently announced the Meta Quest 3 mixed reality headset, just a week before Apple unveiled its own highly anticipated model, the Vision Pro.
