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VTuber Researchers Launch Survey About Harassment In Virtual Reality
posted on by Kim Morrissy
Independent Japanese Virtual YouTuber "Virtual Bishojo Nem" and the Swiss VTuber anthropologist “Mila” (Liudmila Bredikhina) launched a large-scale quantitative survey on Tuesday about harassment on Virtual Reality (VR) platforms. The "Harassment in Metaverse" survey specifically focuses on users of social VR platforms such as VRChat, RecRoom, and Neos VR, etc. who use a head-mounted display at least five times in the last year. The survey is in both English and Japanese, and is open until September 24.
The survey aims to address the following questions:
- Do users actually encounter harassment? If so, what kind of harassment?
- Does the user's gender and sexuality impact their safety?
- How do users deal with unwanted behavior, and to what extent does it impact them?
The results will be published as a report and will not disclose any personal information.
The Japan-based NPO Virtual Rights group is an official supporter of the project, along with the VNOS Corporation which develops VR support for businesses. VR and metaverse-focused news outlets PANORA and Metacul-Frontier are also supporters of the survey.
"Harassment in the Metaverse" is Nem and Mila's third research project. They conducted their first survey, “How did COVID-19 accelerate virtual communication?” in 2020, and their “Social VR Lifestyle Survey” in 2021.
Online harassment has gained significant media attention since the death of wrestler and reality TV star Hana Kimura to suicide in May 2020. Private businesses, including Bushiroad and NIJISANJI, have also launched anti-harassment initiatives in the wake of the tragic incident. Japan's Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC) runs the #NoHeartNoSNS anti-online harassment campaign.
Source: Press Release
