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If you thought Mark Zuckerberg’s metaverse plans weren’t scary enough, Oculus founder Palmer Luckey designed a VR headset that explodes if the user fails at a video game.
The Oculus Rift designer may not be part of the company he founded (which is now part of Meta), but his interest in VR doesn’t seem to have waned. Luckey is still making VR inventions; however, its latest prototype – which appears to be a Meta Quest Pro with explosives attached – isn’t one we’d recommend anyone try.
The device is inspired by the NerveGear headset from the web novel and manga Sword Art Online, which is rigged to explode when the wearer is eliminated in a VR game. Luckey unveiled the invention on his blog (opens in new tab) to commemorate Sword Art Online Day (November 6, 2022), the day in the manga and anime universe where 10,000 players are trapped in the Sword Art Online VR MMORPG.
In the post, Luckey reveals that SAO and Oculus shared a symbiotic relationship – the Kickstarter for the Oculus Rift DK1 launched around the same time as the anime’s fourth episode aired in Japan. The show rekindled public interest in VR, with its depictions of the realistic simulations offered by the NerveGear, making the technology look magical – despite the potentially fatal consequences of failure for the wearer – while the existence of the Rift made the events of SAO plausible.
According to Luckey, Japan became Oculus’ second largest market and the team would be bombarded with questions about SAO and when it would be possible to play the game on their Oculus.
Luckey clearly likes SAO based on the anecdotes his piece is littered with; however, his fandom may have gone a little too far with the device being “half a true NerveGear”.
Unfortunately, as he goes on to explain, Luckey hasn’t fleshed out the more impressive half of the SAO headset, the “perfect VR” aspect. NerveGear users are not limited by the physical space they have at home, nor by their own physical limitations, as with today’s best VR headsets. Instead, the NerveGear communicates directly with a user’s brain – instead of moving real muscles, their brain controls virtual ones, and the system can send back information that stimulates all of the user’s senses.
Fortunately, Luckey also admits that he doesn’t have the headset’s explosive mechanism perfect either. At this point, the charges are manipulated to explode when the screen flashes red in a certain pattern; however, there is a “huge variety of errors that can occur”, accidentally ending the user’s life – which is why Luckey hasn’t tried it himself yet.
Fortunately, the terrifying-sounding device at the time is nothing more than what Luckey calls “office art,” and we hope it stays that way. Yes, SAO presents a dream come true in terms of real-life VR – I’d love it if my Oculus Quest 2 were half as immersive as the NerveGear – but the story also presents a nightmare scenario that some people cover up too easily. No game, no matter how great it is, is worth giving up your life.
If Luckey continues his efforts, we hope he spends all his time exploring the “perfect VR” side of the NerveGear, and leaves the awful SAW trap element alone after removing it. Playing one of the best VR games is meant to be fun, not a fight for your life, and if you want to improve your experience, just wear a haptic suit like this writer did – it offers more than enough punishment if you fails in VR.