The creator of virtual reality startup Oculus claims he is building VR headgear that can truly murder the player who loses or gets “killed,” in gaming jargon, during a video game. This claim looks to be an elaborate, albeit cruel, prank.
The Japanese novel series turned anime “Sword Art Online” was his inspiration
Palmer Luckey, who left Oculus VR after Facebook acquired it a few years ago, claimed in a blog post that the Japanese novel series turned anime “Sword Art Online” was his inspiration. Because of the deadly “NerveGear” headset, they are forced to wear, the players are locked in an online role-playing game where dying in the game also results in death outside of it.
“The idea of tying your real life to your virtual avatar has always fascinated me — you instantly raise the stakes to the maximum level and force people to fundamentally rethink how they interact with the virtual world and the players inside it,” Luckey said.
If Sword Art Online users utilize these headsets and fall into a mad scientist’s trap, their brains will melt from microwave exposure. Things get bloodier when it comes to Luckey’s headgear because, according to him, it employs charge modules to explode someone’s skull.
It is unclear if it would be legal to create, much less sell, such a VR headset
Modern virtual reality technology has the ability to change how individuals feel about video games by causing out-of-body experiences, according to Jorden Lowen’s 2018 research, which was based on the analysis of a few VR titles.
Numerous academics have previously questioned the effect of technology and new media on how we understand subjectivity, embodiment, and mortality. It will be interesting to see how the Luckey VR headgear evolves and how people react even if it isn’t yet available for purchase.
Many commentators claimed that the blog post was probably a prank, even though it is unclear if it would be legal to create, much less sell, such a headset.
