Oculus Creator Creates a VR Headset That Kills in Honor of Sword Art Online

In the last several decades, technology has ramped up beyond almost anyone's expectations. Devices that once seemed impossible are in production, and the advent of VR programming is expanding in big ways. We have devices like the Oculus to thank for that, and of course, it is well-known series such as Sword Art Online that helped uplift those once-risky ventures. So to celebrate the anime's biggest anniversary yet, the creator of Oculus decided to take a page from NerveGear and make a VR kit that kills the player. 

Over on their blog, Palmer Luckey showed the world their wild creation as they commemorated November 6th. After all, the tech creator is a big fan of Sword Art Online, and they admit the anime helped fuel interest in the Oculus Rift jus as it went public.

What Does Luckey's VR Kit Do?

"Today is November 6th, 2022, the day of the SAO Incident. Thousands of VRMMORPG gamers were trapped by a mad scientist inside a death game that could only be escaped through completion," the creator wrote. "If their hit points dropped to zero, their brain would be bombarded by extraordinarily powerful microwaves, supposedly killing the user. The same would happen if anyone in the real world tampered with their NerveGear, the virtual reality head-mounted-display that transported their minds and souls to Aincrad, the primary setting of Sword Art Online."

Continuing, the creator went on to share their personal love of Sword Art Online. From meeting the series creator to meeting cosplayers, Luckey is a diehard fan of the anime. So of course, there was only one thing the Oculus creator could do to honor the in-game unveiling of Aincrad. They chose to make a VR headset that kills.

READ MORE: Sword Art Online Announces New Film | Sword Art Online Progressive Movie is Coming to Crunchyroll

"In SAO, the NerveGear contained a microwave emitter that could be overdriven to lethal levels, something the creator of SAO and the NerveGear itself (Akihiko Kayaba) was able to hide from his employees, regulators, and contract manufacturing partners. I am a pretty smart guy, but I couldn't come up with any way to make anything like this work, not without attaching the headset to gigantic pieces of equipment. In lieu of this, I used three of the explosive charge modules I usually use for a different project, tying them to a narrow-band photosensor that can detect when the screen flashes red at a specific frequency, making game-over integration on the part of the developer very easy. When an appropriate game-over screen is displayed, the charges fire, instantly destroying the brain of the user," he shared.

Clearly, this headset is a stunt, but it goes to show just how terrifying NerveGear is in real life. It is one thing to watch a show about people dying in real life after being killed in VR. Now, a prototype exists of that deadly tech, and it is certainly humbling to think about. And unless you have plot armor like Kirito, well – it is best you just avoid using this gear period. 

What do you think about this wild update? Share your thoughts with us in the comments section below or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB.