Oculus Creator Develops VR Headset That Kills Users If They Die In The Game

Oculus founder Palmer Luckey shares that he’s halfway done with inventing the NerveGear, but unfortunately, only the part where it kills you. The 30-year-old shares that the idea of tying his life to a virtual world fascinated him and that motivated him to emulate that concept in real life, including the part where one might put their life on the line.

The inventor penned a piece, explaining how far the progress of creating the NerveGear is.

“The idea of tying your real life to your virtual avatar has always fascinated me,” he wrote in his blog. “You instantly raise the stakes to the maximum level and force people to fundamentally rethink how they interact with the virtual world and the players inside it.”

“Pumped up graphics might make a game look more real, but only the threat of serious consequences can make a game feel real to you and every other person in the game. This is an area of videogame mechanics that has never been explored, despite the long history of real-world sports revolving around similar stakes.”

NerveGear is a name inspired by the novel and anime series ‘Sword Art Online.’ Situated in the future years, NerveGear is the newest gaming technology in the shape of a helmet that allows players to experience the virtual world as they do in real life with all their five senses.

But tragedy ensues as the helmet took hostage of the 10,000 players who logged into the game, preventing them from logging out unless they clear the game by beating the boss on the final floor. Death in the game also meant death in real life and forced removal of the helmet would also mean death to the players.

“If their hit points dropped to zero, their brain would be bombarded by extraordinarily powerful microwaves, supposedly killing the user,” Luckey explained the core setting of the fictional story.

Luckey’s invention, however, is a little different: he uses explosive charge modules. A sensor is also used to detect if a player has lost their life in-game. Luckey continued, “When an appropriate game-over screen is displayed, the charges fire, instantly destroying the brain of the user.”

But that’s as far as he could do and sadly continued to write, “The perfect-VR half of the equation is still many years out.”

As of now, Luckey called it “a piece of office art” and a “thought-provoking reminder” of the potentials in game design that are yet to be explored.

“It is also, as far as I know, the first non-fiction example of a VR device that can actually kill the user,” he continued. “It won’t be the last.”