announcement
Palmer Luckey revealed on November 6 local time that he had created an unusual VR device called OQPNVG. Inspired by popular novels and anime works, it is said to be a VR device that “if you die in the game, you die in real life”.
Luckey is the co-founder of Oculus VR and the designer of Oculus Rift. Speaking of Oculus, he is also the predecessor of the Meta series, a VR device developed by Meta (formerly Facebook). After launching Oculus VR, he launched a Kickstarter campaign for Oculus Rift. The VR headset, which was released through such a process, became a hot topic around the world and became the beginning of the spread of VR. Oculus VR was acquired by Facebook in 2014. Now renamed Oculus, it is the VR division of Facebook Technologies, a subsidiary of Meta. Luckey left the company to start another company, Andruril Industries.
Mr. Luckey said on November 6th local timeown blogreported having created an OQPNVG VR device that “If you die in the game, you will die in reality.” First, he introduced that November 6, 2022 was the day the “SAO incident” occurred. The SAO Incident is a fictional incident in “Sword Art Online” known for its novels and anime.
In the same work, on November 6, 2022, the VR / MMORPG “Sword Art Online” officially started the service. The opening of the so-called death game has been declared, where if you die in the game, your real body also dies. This is called the SAO incident in the work. And Mr. Luckey created a homicide VR device named after the same job on the day of the SAO incident.
In his blog, Mr. Luckey first mentioned the NerveGear mechanism, a VR homicide device in “Sword Art Online”. The VR device being worked on features a microwave generator with enough power to kill the wearer. He says it would take an incredible amount of time to completely recreate NerveGear’s mechanism without the need for bulky equipment. It would be extremely difficult to replicate with modern technology.
However, Luckey devised a method to recreate NerveGear’s murder mechanism in a compact way using three explosive modules. A narrowband light sensor detects when the screen flashes red with light of a specific frequency. The explosive explodes and the user’s brain is instantly destroyed.
But Luckey doesn’t think the system is perfect. It is said that they are considering installing features to prevent “illegal” such as “remove the headset” and “disable the killing feature” like the original Nerve Gear. But even if such a feature is implemented, various problems could still cause the accidental death of users. As for the “game over”, he believes it should be judged by a very clever program like NerveGear.
In the blog, Mr. Luckey also talks about his feelings for “Sword Art Online”. He said the Oculus Rift Kickstarter start date coincided with the airing of the first season of the anime version “Sword Art Online”. Especially in Japan, Oculus has aroused “enormous enthusiasm for otaku”. And Japan quickly became Oculus’ second largest market in the world. On the other hand, he believes that Oculus also benefited from “Sword Art Online” and the look of Oculus Rift reinforced the reality of the work.
Luckey also appears to be having an affair with Mr. Reki Kawahara, the original author of “Sword Art Online”. At the one-year Anime Expo, she even personally showed Mr. Kawahara the DK2, a prototype of the Oculus Rift. There seem to be dozens of episodes on “Sword Art Online” that can be talked about as blog posts, showing Mr. Luckey’s passion for the job.
Mr. Luckey suddenly created a VR device for murder on the day of the “SAO Incident”, possibly due to his affection for “Sword Art Online”. He also claimed that OQPNVG is nothing more than art to decorate his office. There seems to be no plan to put this into practice for the moment, so rest assured.
Luckey says OQPNVG is the first example, to his knowledge, of recreating a VR device capable of killing a user. However, she left a comment at the end of her blog, saying, “It won’t be the last.” I’m not sure if this statement is serious or a joke, but I can only hope that VR devices like NerveGear won’t show up in the near future, or even in the distant future.
