The founder of Oculus is developing a VR headset with explosive charges that are triggered if the player dies in a game. A way for him to make virtuality more real.
Cats would have nine lives and those of video game players are not worth much, since they are consumed in abundance. To make the game a little more exciting, Oculus founder Palmer Luckey decided that an avatar’s life was worth the life of its human.
He has designed a VR headset with explosive charges capable of killing its wearer if he dies in a game. For him, the way of playing is inevitably impacted, because only serious consequences can give realism to the game.
In the explanations of a publication on his blog, he underlines that this vital tension allows the player to completely rethink the way he interacts with the virtual world.
This isn’t the first time Palmer Luckey has mentioned games that could result in real injury or even death.
But this time, the computer scientist who is considered one of the fathers of virtual reality has created the prototype of a real, potentially lethal VR headset.
The VR Headset is Based on a manga
For its helmet, the developer was inspired by the NerveGear, a VR helmet capable of grilling the brains of players in the Sword Art Online manga saga with microwaves.
Ironically, Palmer Luckey explained that his own NerveGear is halfway through the full development of a real NerveGear. For the moment, only the “killing” part is operational.
The explosive charges are built into the helmet and they are connected to a photosensor that can detect when the screen flashes red at a specific frequency, which indicates the death of the avatar.
But, on the other hand, it is on the VR part that the developers skate, or perhaps slow down voluntarily. While waiting for the finalization of this helmet, the inventor admitted that he had not yet had the courage to try it.
We understand it… What is all the more worrying is that the creator of the Oculus helmet now works for the defense industry, which is not virtual.
