Candidates for elected office in the United States met in Horizon Worlds recently to encourage voter registration and the casting of real ballots.
Democratic candidates Shelly Fraley and Michelle Meriwether, both running for offices in Michigan, hosted a “Get Out The Vote” style event in Horizon Worlds on Saturday, September 21st. I stayed for the duration to observe how things went.
A VR Voting Rally In Meta Horizon Worlds
Political activity in virtual worlds is not new. Joe Biden extended his 2020 presidential campaign to both Fortnite and Animal Crossing, for example. If the president can use games to advertise his candidacy, why can’t everyone else? More specifically, how exactly does the public interact with its own candidates for office using VR headsets? And should such an event exist at all?
Meta Connect was immediately after the rally and featured a number of promised updates coming to Horizon Worlds, including a complete overhaul of how people represent themselves in the space as avatars. So while future events might not resemble this one, it is still worth breaking down what this particular one looked like as a point of future comparison.
Screenshots show red and blue woven together across the entire design of the space. There’s a voting booth for practice to get people used to the idea of casting a ballot. The ballots don't actually cast votes, of course, but they accompany information about absentee ballots, how to register to vote, and how to find polling locations. There are no banners visible for specific politicians or parties.
Outside the mock voting area is a red-and-blue stage for special events. Visitors looked over the red and blue chairs for seating and seemed reticent to select either one. Would picking a spot for comfort mean choosing a color chair that isn’t your voting preference? As the rally went on, I paid less attention to where each color chair was and stood where I could record footage the easiest.
There were musicians dispersed throughout the space over the event's duration providing entertainment. Two hosts navigated the event with occasional reminders to the audience of how to vote. It was also reiterated, more than once, that the goal of the rally was to encourage voting and not any one political party.
Recording footage was difficult because of Horizon's camera system. When a Horizon user activates their camera, other people see a giant tablet that blocks their view. VRChat’s camera system, in contrast, shows a small round disc that can appear semi-transparent and zip around where its owner pilots it. Horizon could benefit from a more discreet drone-friendly camera system with a zoom function.
MI Representative candidate Shelly Fraley speaks to a crowd in Horizon Worlds.
Candidate Interaction
Fraley and Meriwether's appearances were light on direct social interaction with the audience. Fraley opted to engage through Horizon's mobile app and, after introducing herself, Meriwether stayed on for a talk and question and answer session.
I observed no disruptions, though I did see conversations between candidates and those who seemed to have opposing views. At one point Meriwether had a conversation about family law with someone challenging their views, but there weren't raised voices and it seemed like a civil discussion.
Final Thoughts
Overall, the rally seemed put together with good intentions and went off with about as many hitches as can be expected with an experimental idea on a still-changing platform like Horizon Worlds. As a regular visitor to events in VR headsets, it's rare to observe any of them without some sort of human disruption. I didn't see that here, though, so it seemed successful enough to imagine how future events might build on this sort of interaction.
How precisely might a debate go in VR between opposing candidates using a platform like Horizon Worlds? Probably not as smoothly as this one, but it's still an interesting idea that's likely to see exploration in the future.
