Get All Access for $5/mo

Meta Welcomes Teens Into Its Horizon Worlds Prior to this, the Horizon Worlds was only catering to an audience of age 18 and above. The incoming audience will now be able to experience Meta's immersive nature and engage in popular games such as Arena Clash, Giant Mini Paddle Golf, American Idol VR, The Darkest Depths, and Pixel Plummet. Additionally, keeping audience safety as a priority, it has also included back-end protections and parental supervision tools.

By Paromita Gupta

You're reading Entrepreneur India, an international franchise of Entrepreneur Media.

Horizon Worlds

On Tuesday, Meta, the parent company of Facebook, announced that it was opening its Horizon Worlds for teens aged between 13 and 17 in US and Canada. "Teens have already become fans of popular virtual experiences across the industry—this makes it crucial that we build age-appropriate, safe, and positive experiences for them in VR," read the official release of Meta.

Prior to this, the Horizon Worlds was only catering to an audience of age 18 and above. The incoming audience will now be able to experience Meta's immersive nature and engage in popular games such as Arena Clash, Giant Mini Paddle Golf, American Idol VR, The Darkest Depths, and Pixel Plummet. Additionally, keeping audience safety as a priority, it has also included back-end protections and parental supervision tools.

Back in February 2023, Gabriel Aul, Horizon's Vice-President, through an internal memo titled "Horizon 2023 Goals and Strategy", shared how the company was aiming to roll out Horizon Worlds to the age group 13-17, aligning it with Meta Quest's VR target audience.

Safety Protocols

In order to provide a safe, age-appropriate experience, Meta will let its teen audience have a default setting of not showing active status and Meta Horizon Worlds location to other users. Underage users will also have control over whom they follow and who is following them in the world. Meta will also provide age-friendly events users can explore, find and experience. "For example, mature world and event ratings prevent teens from finding, seeing, or entering spaces that contain mature content. Our policies prohibit teens from publishing mature worlds or events. Worlds violating this policy will be removed," the release read.

Horizon Worlds' voice mode will transform teen's voices into soft, tone-down, friendly versions and will emit a distorted sound for users they don't know. Users will have a garbled voice as a default setting for voice mode. Furthermore, the platform will prevent unknown adults from featuring in a user's 'people you may know' list.

Parental observation

Expanding its VR parental supervision tools to Horizon Worlds, Meta will have parents set up Worlds parental supervision by inviting their children through Family Center. Parents and guardians will be allowed to adjust safety features such as voice mode, see who follows their child and who their child follows, allow or block the teen from using apps, and see how much time they spent in the Meta Quest and Worlds for the past week.

"Additionally, everyone—including teens—can cast their experience from Meta Quest, allowing them to share what they're seeing in VR and Worlds with parents, guardians, or others around them," also read the release.

Paromita Gupta

Entrepreneur Staff

Features Writer with Entrepreneur India

Covering news and trends in AI and Metaverse segments. An avid book reader running her personal blog on the side. You may reach me at paromita@entrepreneurindia.com. 
Side Hustle

'Hustling Every Day': These Friends Started a Side Hustle With $2,500 Each — It 'Snowballed' to Over $500,000 and Became a Multimillion-Dollar Brand

Paris Emily Nicholson and Saskia Teje Jenkins had a 2020 brainstorm session that led to a lucrative business.

Leadership

Visionaries or Vague Promises? Why Companies Fail Without Leaders Who See Beyond the Bottom Line

Visionary leaders turn bold ideas into lasting impact by building resilience, clarity and future-ready teams.

Marketing

5 Critical Mistakes to Avoid When Giving a Presentation

Are you tired of enduring dull presentations? Over the years, I have compiled a list of common presentation mistakes and how to avoid them. Here are my top five tips.

Science & Technology

Why Businesses Are Relying on Automation to Survive the Labor Crisis

Robots are revolutionizing industries by addressing labor shortages and enhancing efficiency, while businesses navigate challenges like workforce adaptation and high implementation costs.

Business News

Former Steve Jobs Intern Says This Is How He Would Have Approached AI

The former intern is now the CEO of AI and data company DataStax.

Green Entrepreneur®

How Global Business Leaders Can Build a Sustainable Supply Chain

Businesses can build sustainable supply chains by leveraging technology to reduce environmental impact, optimize resources and track emissions while balancing operational efficiency and sustainability goals.