Oculus Creator Develops VR Headset That KILLS USERS In Real Life If They Die In Game

Oculus Rift VR headset creator and founder Palmer Luckey says he’s created a new virtual reality device that kills users in real life if they’ve died inside the game they’re playing.

The 30-year-old entrepreneur was inspired to create the device after watching an anime show called Sword Art Online where players of a VR video game are trapped in the virtual world until they lose, after which the headset kills them in reality.

“The idea of tying your real life to your virtual avatar has always fascinated me – 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,” Palmer wrote in a recent blog post.

“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,” he added.

According to Palmer, he already figured out the part of the headset “that kills you,” but he doesn’t explain how this was tested.

Describing how exactly the headset “kills” a user, he wrote:

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.

The techie also acknowledged NerveGear currently might accidentally kill the user “at the wrong time,” which is why he said he has “not worked up the balls to actually use it” himself yet.

Concluding his blog post, Palmer told readers, “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. See you in the metaverse.”

Similar virtual reality technology was used in multiple episodes of the popular dystopian sci-fi show Black Mirror, which was inspired by The Twilight Zone.

Mankind is one step closer to entering The Matrix.