Palmer Luckey, the inventor of the Oculus Rift, has prototyped a new VR headset that kills the user if they die in a game. To achieve this, three explosive charges that can be attached directly to the headset explode. Integration into games is said to be extremely easy, as the game only needs to display a game-over screen that flickers red at a specific frequency, which is detected by a photo sensor in the headset.
The prototype isn’t perfect yet, so far there’s no way to prevent the user from simply taking off the headset before the little bombs explode. Also damaging the related electronics would be an easy way to prevent the player from dying. In addition, it cannot be ruled out without a doubt that the headset will kill the user at the wrong time, which is why the inventor of the prototype has not even tried it. According to Palmer Luckey, the decision to detonate the explosive charges should better be left to an artificial intelligence that recognizes whether all the necessary parameters are met.
The Oculus founder has no plans to actually launch such a headset. Instead, the project aims to commemorate the events of the Sword Art Online anime, in which users used a VR headset called NerveGear, which trapped them in the game. People who died in the game were killed by extremely powerful microwaves. The same applies if the headset is removed or tampered with. According to Palmer Luckey, such mechanics can make a game feel a lot more real. He therefore believes that future game design will focus more on real consequences.
Since 2009 I have been writing for various publications in the technology sector until I joined the Notebookcheck news department in 2018. Since then I have combined my many years of experience in the field of notebooks and smartphones with my lifelong passion for technology to inform our readers about new developments on the market. My design background as art director of an advertising agency also allows me deep insights into the peculiarities of this industry.