A virtual reality headset has been developed which will kill the wearer if they die while playing video games. This project is the first example of the popular science fiction and horror trope of technology killing users if they fail in the virtual sphere being realized in the physical world.
Palmer Luckey is the founder of Virtual reality company Oculus and the joint creator of the Oculus Rift, an early iteration of a VR headset for PCs. Luckey’s work has been influenced by the hugely successfulSword Art Onlinefranchise that provides a virtual reality updated version of popular narratives made famous by Koushun Takami’sBattle Royaleand Stephen King’sThe Running Mannovels.InSword Art Online, a novel by Reki Kawahara, thousands of VR gamers are trapped inside a death game that can only be escaped by surviving 100 dungeon levels. If the gamers die in game, their VR headsets kill the users in the real world.
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In Palmer’s official blog, he announced that, inspired bythe extensiveSword Art Onlineuniverse, he had created a real life version of the lethal headset used in the series. Palmer’s new VR headset houses three explosive charges mounted above the screen and are set to detonate if it registers an in game death. Although the headset is not being mass-produced or sold to the public, Luckey commented the project’s development, saying, “At this point, it is just a piece of office art, a thought-provoking reminder of unexplored avenues in game design. It is also, as far as I know, the first non-fiction example of a VR device that can actually kill the user. It won’t be the last.”
The original development of the Oculus Rift in 2012 was unexpectedly released in tandem withthe anime version ofSword Art Onlinepremiering, and thus created a huge interest and demand for the Oculus Rift headset. This was especially prevalent in the Japanese market, which quickly became Oculus’s second-biggest market, and gave theSword Art Onlineconcept more weight, bringing the violent story that much closer to reality. Luckey stated that he also has plans for an anti-tamper mechanism which, like itsSword Art Onlinecounterpart, will make it impossible to remove or destroy the headset without dying, and this is why he has not yet worked up the courage to test out the headset himself.
The very existence of thisSword Art Onlineinspired headset comes as a harrowing blurring of the lines between science fiction and fact. If Palmer Luckey does in fact succeed in bringing this project to fruition, gamers will need to hope thatsurviving bullet hell gameswith this headset doesn’t become a viral social media challenge.
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