The Killer VR Headset | Sword Art Online IRL?

On November 10 of this year, news spread that Palmer Luckey, the founder of Oculus who left during Facebook's acquisition, is currently working on a brand new VR device. He says that he was inspired by the anime known as "Sword Art Online" where players play a game using VR headsets that will kill them upon death within the game.

Image Courtesy of @TheCurrentPK on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheCurrentPK/status/1590247952546557952?s=20&t=2D_I4tPbkKM8SD6LxjPqBw

Luckey said that the idea fascinated him and it became an inspiration for such a device, saying “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". This is where the line between ethical and logical begins to blur. While it does make sense that this would be the next logical step forward in terms of immersion within a game and its fictional world, is it really worth it to risk your life, a valuable human life for a literal "once in a lifetime" experience? This is where things may get controversial, with everyone having many differing opinions regarding the topic, but it is still quite far from coming to fruition. Although, that doesn't change the horrifying fact that it is on its way to becoming a reality. It may not be initially available to the general public consumer base, it will eventually come to their grasp and may become a major threat in the future. References: Wionews: Swaminathan S. (2022) "Is it even legal? Oculus creator builds VR headset that can actually kill you if you die in-game" Wionews, https://www.wionews.com/technology/mind-blowing-oculus-creator-builds-vr-headset-that-can-actually-kill-you-if-you-die-in-game-532782