Death by Gaming: The first VR glasses that can end your life

It sounds like an April Fool’s joke. VR glasses that not only damage their users, but them can even kill. Yet oculus-Co-founder Palmer Luckey has now brought this crazy idea to life.

It was probably not entirely by accident that he presented his idea November 6th. 2022 before. The day in the fictional anime series Sword Art Online the users of an MMORPG are unexpectedly drawn into the gaming world and suddenly have to fight for their real life.

Reallife Deathmatch

In the world of fiction, there are already several stories in which people engage in games and competitions jeopardize their own lives have to. Hunger Games“Running Man” and “Squid Game” are just a few of them.

In the anime “Sword Art Online” (SAO), players can go through a new Nervegear headset feel and experience the associated MMORPG like real life. But users are shocked to find that they can no longer log out of the game.

Of the only way to get out of the MMORPG is to beat the game. But when you die in the game, the Nervegear headset also grills the right brain. SAO inspired Palmer Luckey to develop such a toy of death in reality.

Adaptation from Nervegear headset

A complete experience of a virtual reality, as it takes place in Sword Art Online, fascinates the developer a lot. In his personal blog, he shared that he had good news and bad news about the Development of a real Nervegear headset Has.

The good one, he have already been able to implement 50 percent of it, the bad ones – only the dying part is realizable so far. In his “Death Headset” this works over several explosive chargeswhich are attached to the VR glasses and which trigger as soon as the screen lights up in corresponding game-over colors.

However, the other 50 percent, the perfectly sensitive perception of such a virtual reality as shown in SOA, is his opinion still distant music of the future. Nonetheless, the thought tempts him Spice up game design by increasing your risk.

Deadly video games someday a reality?

There are already real games out there more than just for fun be played. Poker, for example, gets an added appeal from being played for money. In Palmer’s opinion, upping the ante on video games might as well fundamentally change how you play them.

So far, its prototype is only an object of art for your own office. But he is convinced that his provocative move might eventually inspire others to explore such uncharted territory in game design.

His VR glasses are the first of its kindbut he is convinced that it certainly is not the last will be.