美国国家公共电台 NPR Even In A Virtual World, The Harsh Reality Of Sexual Harassment Persists

Even In A Virtual World, The Harsh Reality Of Sexual Harassment¹ Persists

play pause stop mute unmute max volume 00:0003:41repeat repeat off Update Required To play the media you will need to either update your browser² to a recent version or update your Flash plugin. RACHEL MARTIN, HOST: 

Playing in virtual reality is supposed to be escapist. When you put on those goggles³ and immerse yourself in VR, as it's known, it's supposed to take you out of the hard stuff of everyday life into an interesting experience. But what happens when that experience turns unexpectedly dark? Recently, a female player wrote an article describing how she was groped and chased virtually while playing an archery game called QuiVr.

We reached the developer of that game, Jonathan Schenker, to talk more about this, and he joins me now. Jonathan, thanks so much for being with us.

JONATHAN SCHENKER: Thank you for having me.

MARTIN: So what happened in this particular case with this player who was inappropriately grabbed in virtual reality by another player?

SCHENKER: So players can move around in their actual, physical environment, which moves them around in their virtual environment. So people can kind of move into each other's spaces. And that, to a much more serious degree than just invading personal space, is what happened.

MARTIN: So what did you - what could you do? How could you program a solution to this?

SCHENKER: There was already a system that existed called the Personal Bubble - it's a setting that players can turn on - which was aimed at reducing kind of annoyances⁴. So it stopped people from putting their hands in other people's faces. And if someone was repeatedly shooting arrows at another player, the arrows would kind of disappear if you had that setting on.

So I thought that the fastest and simplest solution to the problem, to get it fixed⁵ immediately, would be to extend that Personal Bubble system to include kind of a full-body protection where - before, only hands faded out if they were close to another person's face. And now it's a - within a meter-or-so distance, someone who kind of walks into your personal space simply fades out of existence.

MARTIN: Whoa, Jonathan, you're blowing my mind. So the person who is the aggressor still thinks they are carrying out that behavior. They still think they're reaching out and grabbing someone. It's just the person who's the, quote, "victim" in this situation wouldn't feel it, wouldn't see or feel that aggressive behavior?

SCHENKER: Well, the aggressive behavior is never felt. There's no physical feeling in virtual reality. It's all visual. The original fix was only for the player who was being affected⁶ to not see the action. However, we have also changed it so that the aggressor, when they reach their hand out, the other person's body disappears as well.

MARTIN: It's complicated, this whole thing - like, trying to create these virtual worlds, but making them safe spaces that don't incorporate some of the bad behaviors of real life into virtual life.

SCHENKER: Exactly. The bottom line is that these games are supposed to be fun. I've taken hours and hours placing every single rock in these virtual environments. And if players are taking the experience away from other people that I've worked so hard to create, it upsets me. And so I really want to ensure that everybody has the same type of experience that I'm trying to provide.

MARTIN: Jonathan Schenker. He and his business partner, Aaron Stanton, developed the virtual reality game QuiVr. Thank you so much for talking with us about this, Jonathan.

SCHENKER: I'm happy to do so.

1 harassment   

n.骚扰，扰乱，烦恼，烦乱

参考例句：

• She often got telephone harassment at night these days.这些天她经常在夜晚受到电话骚扰。
• The company prohibits any form of harassment.公司禁止任何形式的骚扰行为。

2 browser   

n.浏览者

参考例句：

• View edits in a web browser.在浏览器中看编辑的效果。
• I think my browser has a list of shareware links.我想在浏览器中会有一系列的共享软件链接。

3 goggles   

n.护目镜

参考例句：

• Skiers wear goggles to protect their eyes from the sun.滑雪者都戴上护目镜使眼睛不受阳光伤害。
• My swimming goggles keep steaming up so I can't see.我的护目镜一直有水雾，所以我看不见。

4 annoyances   

n.恼怒( annoyance的名词复数 )；烦恼；打扰；使人烦恼的事

参考例句：

• At dinner that evening two annoyances kept General Zaroff from perfect enjoyment one. 当天晚上吃饭时，有两件不称心的事令沙洛夫吃得不很香。 来自辞典例句
• Actually, I have a lot of these little annoyances-don't we all? 事实上我有很多类似的小烦恼，我们不都有这种小烦恼吗？ 来自互联网

5 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

6 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。