London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Sep 18, 2025

The issue that questions the future of reality itself

The issue that questions the future of reality itself

The alleged sexual harassment of a woman on Meta’s virtual reality (VR) media platform has posed the question whether actual physical harassment can take place virtually, and what this might mean for the future of reality.

Last week, Meta (the umbrella company formerly known as Facebook) opened access to its VR social media platform, Horizon Worlds. In Horizon Worlds, up to 20 avatars can get together at a time to explore, hang out and build within the virtual space.

But not everything went according to plan. A woman beta tester reported that a stranger had groped her and that those around her did not intervene to stop it. The tool within the platform developed to create ‘Safe Zones’ – a protective bubble users can activate when feeling threatened – was not deployed.

Predictably, a debate ensued about whose responsibility it was to protect users in Horizon Worlds. One writer from Technology Review concluded that, because there is “no body that’s plainly responsible for the rights and safety of those who participate anywhere online, let alone in virtual worlds… the metaverse will remain a dangerous, problematic space.”

This conclusion merits interrogation.

Two things stand out. First, the assumption that, somehow, odious real-life behavior would not be present in virtual worlds, is naïve beyond belief. But the idea that virtual sexual harassment represents a real danger to users is even more unhinged. Confusing reality with a created reality that is not experienced physically transforms reality and our imagination of reality.

While it is true to argue that sexual harassment has never simply been a physical thing but can be verbal, this is less clear when it comes to a virtual experience. Katherine Cross, who researches online harassment at the University of Washington, argues that, when virtual reality is immersive and real, toxic behavior in that environment is real. “The nature of virtual reality spaces is such that it is designed to trick the user into thinking they are physically in a certain space, that their every bodily action is occurring in a 3D environment,” she says. “It’s part of the reason why emotional reactions can be stronger in that space, and why VR triggers the same internal nervous system and psychological responses.”

Cross may be right about how individuals might experience virtual groping in Horizon Worlds. The psychological response might be as powerful as if it were happening physically. But it is not happening physically – a distinction she and many others appear to forget.

This is where this discussion becomes so problematic. Horizon Worlds is a virtual-reality space. No matter how well it immerses and ‘tricks’ the user, entering this world signals, at the very least, an awareness that one is accessing a different reality. In this virtual world, physical harm is not possible. It is a safe space. The idea that Meta needs to protect users, create tools that ensure a ‘Safe Zone,’ confuses reality with fantasy, elides the distinction between reality and the appearance of reality, and treats its users like children.

In one respect, this is not surprising. Today, words are regarded as harmful. The exposure to ideas you don’t like can now be experienced as physical assaults. Is it surprising that the experience of virtual groping can be interpreted as physical harm?

But virtual reality is virtual. Yes, it is a real appearance, but it is an appearance, nevertheless. This is an imagined experience, like being immersed in a movie that temporarily transports us into another world. But, when the movie is over, we leave the cinema and get back to reality.

If we believe what Mark Zuckerberg intends, the metaverse is an immersive experience so real that it can act as an alternative reality to ordinary life. But this can only become believable if there is a desire to escape the physical world.

The discussion about virtual groping indicates that some have already made this leap. Their confusion of appearance with reality needs challenging because it is fundamental to how we understand the world and lived experience, and to how we change it.

Imagining different worlds and dreaming of solving problems has always been critical to how humanity has changed the world. The imagination sparks problem-solving precisely because the difference between our lived experience and outcomes always poses the need to understand this gap. Imagination cannot exist if there is no reality upon which it is based. Questioning appearance is a precursor to overcoming or changing reality. Had our forefathers never questioned the existence of the stars and planets by imagining what drove their repeated appearance at night, an experience that suggested wrongly we were the center of the universe, we would still be living in a flat world. We wouldn’t have smartphones or computers, let alone Oculus headsets.

The confusion of reality and appearance expressed in the Horizon Worlds groping threatens to challenge the future of human imagination. Without this distinction, we would be immersed in a state of unalterable impression, always determined and denied any capacity to alter the world. We would be reduced to the status of dependent infants, a status that many people drawn to virtual reality worlds regard as desirable. This, not virtual groping, represents a real threat to the future of society.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Macron and his wife to provide 'scientific photographic evidence' that she is a real woman
US Tech Giants Pledge Billions to UK AI Infrastructure Following Starmer's Call
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
DeepMind and OpenAI Achieve Gold at ‘Coding Olympics’ in AI Milestone
SEC Allows Public Companies to Block Investors from Class-Action Lawsuits
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Federal Reserve Cuts Rates by Quarter Point and Signals More to Come
Effective and Impressive Generation Z Protest: Images from the Riots in Nepal
European manufacturers against ban on polluting cars: "The industry may collapse"
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Trump: Cancel quarterly company reports and settle for reporting once every six months
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
US Launches New Pilot Program to Accelerate eVTOL Air Taxi Deployment
Christian Brueckner Released from German Prison after Serving Unrelated Sentence
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Hong Kong Industry Group Calls for HK$20 Billion Support Fund to Ease Property Market Stress
Joe Biden’s Post-Presidency Speaking Fees Face Weak Demand amid Corporate Reluctance
Charlie Kirk's murder will break the left's hateful cancel tactics
Kash Patel erupts at ‘buffoon’ Sen. Adam Schiff over Russiagate: ‘You are the biggest fraud’
Homeland Security says Emmy speech ‘fanning the flames of hatred’ after Einbinder’s ‘F— ICE’ remark
Charlie Kirk’s Alleged Assassin Tyler Robinson Faces Death Penalty as Charges Formally Announced
Actor, director, environmentalist Robert Redford dies at 89
The conservative right spreads westward: a huge achievement for 'Alternative for Germany' in local elections
JD Vance Says There Is “No Unity” with Those Who Celebrate Charlie Kirk’s Killing, and he is right!
Trump sues the 'New York Times' for an astronomical sum of 15 billion dollars
Florida Hospital Welcomes Its Largest-Ever Baby: Annan, Nearly Fourteen Pounds at Birth
U.S. and Britain Poised to Finalize Over $10 Billion in High-Tech, Nuclear and Defense Deals During Trump State Visit
China Finds Nvidia Violated Antitrust Laws in Mellanox Deal, Deepens Trade Tensions with US
US Air Force Begins Modifications on Qatar-Donated Jet Amid Plans to Use It as Air Force One
Pope Leo Warns of Societal Crisis Over Mega-CEO Pay, Citing Tesla’s Proposed Trillion-Dollar Package
Poland Green-Lights NATO Deployment in Response to Major Russian Drone Incursion
Elon Musk Retakes Lead as World’s Richest After Brief Ellison Surge
U.S. and China Agree on Framework to Shift TikTok to American Ownership
London Daily Podcast: London Massive Pro Democracy Rally, Musk Support, UK Economic Data and Premier League Results Mark Eventful Weekend
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Le Pen Tightens the Pressure on Macron as France Edges Toward Political Breakdown
Musk calls for new UK government at huge pro-democracy rally in London, but Britons have been brainwashed to obey instead of fighting for their human rights
Elon Musk responds to post calling for the murder of Erika Kirk, widow of Charlie Kirk: 'Either we fight back or they will kill us'
Czech Republic signs €1.34 billion contract for Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks with delivery from 2028
USA: Office Depot Employees Refused to Print Poster in Memory of Charlie Kirk – and Were Fired
Proposed U.S. Bill Would Allow Civil Suits Against Judges Who Release Repeat Violent Offenders
Penske Media Sues Google Over “AI Overviews,” Claiming It Uses Journalism Without Consent and Destroys Traffic
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
French Debt Downgrade Piles Pressure on Macron’s New Prime Minister
US and UK Near Tech, Nuclear and Whisky Deals Ahead of Trump Trip
One in Three Europeans Now Uses TikTok, According to the Chinese Tech Giant
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
NATO Deploys ‘Eastern Sentry’ After Russian Drones Violate Polish Airspace
Anesthesiologist Left Operation Mid-Surgery to Have Sex with Nurse
×