VR headset created by Oculus cofounder can kill the player

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Losing a character in a game like The Quarry, for example, is frustrating and can have a sentimental impact on a player. Now, can you imagine losing your own life during a video game? Well, as sadistic as this idea is, Oculus co-founder Palmer Luckey has not only thought about it, but has actually created something capable of it.

In a post on his personal blog, Luckey talks about a peculiar VR headset he created. Three explosive charges were implanted in the device, which are located at the height of the player’s forehead and would easily blow his skull off after a “Game Over” screen.

Certainly, this atmosphere of taking a real-life risk during a video game will remind many of the Sword Art Online (SAO) franchise, where Kirito and company need to be extremely cautious about their actions within SAO, as they are trapped in their Nerve Gear headset, which features a microwave generator that can punish them in real life for any in-game slip-ups.

The anime Sword Art Online was in fact a reference for Luckey in the creation of his deadly equipment. He says that several times he was asked, “Have you seen Sword Art Online? When will you make NerveGear real? Now, let’s just say he is able to answer that question with a resounding YES! “The good news is that we are halfway to making a real NerveGear. The bad news is that so far I’ve only discovered the half that kills you. The perfect VR half of the equation is still many years away,” Luckey wrote.

Before anyone goes hunting for the deadly ‘VR’ around on e-commerce sites, fortunately (or unfortunately), for now the device is “just a piece of office art, a thought-provoking reminder of unexplored paths in game design,” Luckey warns.

The more real, the better?

Immersion has been one of the most explored points within the gaming market. Sony, for example, brought to PS5 the innovation of DualSense, the control that through its vibration system is able to simulate with greater fidelity the action of pressing a trigger or even the feeling of rain falling on the character – something very well presented in Returnal.

But to imagine that this technology could physically punish players in a match is just too Black Mirror. By the way, for fans of this theme, we recommend the episode ”Playtest”, the second episode of the third season of the series available on the Netflix platform.

Sources: arstechnica