May 1, 2024

Oculus Developer Promises Mindblowing Tribute to Sword Art Online

Palmer’s next creation would be a lethal one

On November 6, 2022, the SAO Incident occurred. A crazy scientist trapped thousands of VRMMORPG players inside a death game that they could only escape by finishing. Their brain would be assaulted by very potent microwaves if their hit points fell to zero, supposedly killing the user.

The same thing would occur if someone in the real world messed with their NerveGear, the virtual reality head-mounted device that carried their spirits and thoughts to Aincrad, the main location of Sword Art Online.

The original Oculus Rift headset’s developer, Palmer Luckey, claims to have modified a VR headset so that it can actually kill the wearer. The controversial artwork was influenced by the anime Sword Art Online, in which players locked in virtual reality perish in the real world if they die there.

The popularity of Sword Art Online peaked around the time the Oculus Rift began to gain ground thanks to its record-breaking 2012 Kickstarter, despite the fact that virtual reality-based anime have a long history.

Oculus Rift designer Palmer Luckey recalls how many people inquired about his knowledge of the anime Sword Art Online as he was starting the brand-new business Oculus. Not only was Luckey aware of the show, but he has also developed into something of a mega-fan. He and his wife even got figurines of themselves as the show’s major characters as a wedding present.

There could hardly be anyone better qualified to carry out what occurred next thanks to Luckey’s distinctive experience as a VR pioneer, ardent fan of Sword Art Online, and later founder of a military technology business.

According to Lucky, he created a headset on November 6, 2022, a critical date in Sword Art Online, that is capable of killing its user by detonating three explosive charges if the user dies in virtual reality. Luckey refers to the project as “a piece of office art” for the time being, but he appears eager to develop the concept further. even though he isn’t yet ready to wear it himself.

Despite the fact that the concept initially looks fairly gloomy, Luckey contends that it is identical to the harsh repercussions that motivate some extreme sports. Despite the long history of real-world sports revolving around comparable stakes, he argues, “this is an area of videogame mechanics that has never been studied.”