Above: A Horizon Creator Community jam that Diaz managed
Is Horizon Worlds a more powerful platform than we give it credit for? Social scientist Dr. Ruth Diaz, who was formerly a Community Design Developer for Meta, recently shared some user-made Horizon Worlds builds with me (above), arguing that the platform has several features which do make it worthwhile. (More on that below.)
The problem, she tells me, is that Meta hasn't given the user community enough visibility -- or even engaged with them enough to begin with.
"Get to know the community," as she puts it in form of advice to Meta, "and focus your programming not on popular worlds, but enriching worlds. To me, this reflects that Meta's developers are still struggling with actually spending time in the LIVE app with those creating in it."
We've seen reports of Meta telling its staff to "dogfood" Horizon Worlds, but to Dr. Diaz, the company's standard doesn't go far enough: "When they say 'dogfooding', they mean using a separate app to try out new features."
In Meta's absence, she tells me, Horizon Worlds has become "an influencer-focused culture" -- "versus investing in genuine community building, which would mean up-skilling and investing in community leaders, instead of burning them out until they are canceled or leave on their own."
This might help explain why the last report of Horizon Worlds activity was only 200,000 users from 2023. But while Meta may not be supporting the user community as much as it deserves, Ruth tells me there is (or was) a community of engaged user creators on the platform expressing themselves in profound ways to the best of their abilities:
"A rich world doesn't have to be a complex world or a profoundly eye catching world," as she puts it. "It just has to have a story in it, that gets you in a really deep place. It rips open your heart with grief or joy. You know you are in the middle of someone's wound and/or rebirth. Some of the most heart-opening worlds that I've mentored into existence are made by people who still do not consider themselves creators. They are stories of severed limbs, severed relationships, hopes, and secret dreams, all woven into metaphor in a way where the emotion bursts through the people experiencing it... Influencer culture changed everything."
I've heard related things from other veterans of Meta who worked on Horizon Worlds. It's certainly a stark contrast with, say, VRChat, which is highly community creator focused, and is vastly more popular than Horizon Worlds even on Meta's own VR headsets.
Anyway, I asked Dr. Diaz to tell me about Horizon Worlds' advantages, and she shared this mini-essay:
Above: Horizon Worlds prototype builds by Dr. Diaz
What People Are Not Getting About Horizon Worlds
Many folks overlook the essence of Horizon Worlds, but here are three things that often get missed:
A 3D Art Sketch App:
At its core, Horizon Worlds is like a sketchpad for 3D art. The tools are simple, but they offer endless creative potential. It takes time to get familiar with them, and once you do, it’s like painting your dreams into a 3D space. Want to dive in? Build with a friend or take one of my classes to start bringing your ideas to life!
Interactive Environment:
One of the standout features is how interactive the app can be. Unlike other VR spaces where the environment is mostly static, Horizon Worlds lets you create dynamic, playful experiences. With its creation tools, you’re able to make interactions that surprise, delight, and invite curiosity.
An Incubator for World Creators:
As you connect with more creators, you begin to learn and interpret environmental design in new ways. It’s almost like an incubator for aspiring world builders. Think of it as a giant set of virtual Lincoln Logs or Legos—where your inner child is free to experiment, learn, and, most importantly, play!
Looking Ahead
Horizon Worlds is evolving. With the early access program, more creators are importing builds from Unity, which opens up exciting possibilities. My hope is that the in-world creation tools don’t disappear, as they are essential to the collaborative and social fabric that makes Horizon Worlds so unique.
Related to that last point, Dr. Diaz recently helped launch BridgeMakers, for "community leaders and world builders who are passionate about improving the culture of social."
As for Horizon Worlds, if the user creative community is already dormant, maybe it is best that it become a cross-platform virtual machine as some have speculated.
Above: "Contact" build by Dr. Diaz
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The only thing that matters... is where your friends are.
People were 'building worlds' in Quake Team Fortress, mmk? That's so old school, but yes people were building levels that were impromptu night clubs, or where they would hold events and tournaments.
This extended out to new platforms like Half Life, which spawned more mods, each with their own communities who made custom maps and congregated together having fun. From role playing, to clan vs clan tournaments, to open mics with music performances and DJs, who cares if something is a 'metaverse'?
Most people are happy to stand in a box and talk with each other. Everything else is really just window dressing.
What LL gets wrong and many of these metaverses get wrong is focusing on the pretty, focusing on "oh you can make anything!" and worse, luring them with "You can make big $$$$ making stuff here!" when at the end of the day people want to find each other, make new friends and have great chat and experiences.
This could be in Fortnite, or Roblox or SL, they don't care. Metaverse is over-rated, has a very potential to be dystopic and misused - linked into a digital currency and social credit system - all these platforms should be is fun, fun, fun and escapism from our lousy jobs in life.
Posted by: JavaCrepeCEnsorsTooMuch | Saturday, September 21, 2024 at 08:04 AM