Advancements in virtual reality are almost too astonishing to believe, especially when it comes to new technologies surrounding VR headsets. As it turns out, these advancements aren’t just impressive – they’re downright terrifying.
The founder of Oculus VR, Palmer Luckey, claims he has designed a VR headset that will kill a player in real life if their virtual avatar is killed in the video game.
So if you die in the game, you die in real life. That means failing to deliver in the virtual world could have serious consequences. Deadly consequences, in fact.
About the “Killer Headset”
Palmer Luckey co-founded Oculus in 2012 and sold it to Facebook for a whopping $2 billion just two years later. Since then, he has designed the Oculus Rift VR headset as well as other tech that greatly enhances a player’s virtual experience.
But none of Luckey’s innovations even come close to what he’s working on now: the killer VR headset.
Luckey’s inspiration stems from Sword Art Online, the Japanese novel and anime series. In Sword Art Online, players are trapped in an online world, and death in this virtual world equates to real-life death thanks to the killer headset each player is required to wear.
So why create something so terrifying in the virtual realm? Here’s what Luckey had to say in one of his viral blog posts:
“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.”
He then went on to write: “Only the threat of serious consequences can make a game feel real to you and every other person in the game.” Most of us can agree that no consequence is as serious as death.
How It Works
The headset is apparently connected to 3 explosives that can detect when the screen hits a specific frequency. When a game-over screen is displayed, charges are fired, causing a player to die in the game and in the real world.
What’s to Come in Virtual Reality?
We don’t have to worry about the deadly headset hitting the market anytime soon. Luckey himself told the public that the technology is still years from being perfected. You have nothing to fear… for now!
What most VR junkies are focused on at the moment is Meta’s brand new Quest Pro headset. With breakthrough high-resolution mixed reality, Quest Pro makes it easy for you to virtually engage while maintaining a strong presence in your physical space.
Meta Quest Pro – The Future of VR?
Thanks to significant advancements, a wide range of industries are jumping on board the virtual reality train.
Following the release of Meta’s new Quest Pro, some online casinos have even expanded their services to the virtual world. Pokerstars, a company that has been in the industry for over two decades, is one of the few pioneers to try the new technology.
James O’Reilly, Director of VR and Innovation at PokerStars, said: “Our goal with PokerStars VR is to push the potential of new technologies as far as we can to create a fun and authentic social casino game that really is limitless.
We’re extremely proud to be part of the launch of Meta’s Quest Pro, which is a transformation in virtual and mixed reality.”
While most people wouldn’t be willing to push their luck with the headset that’s straight out of the SAW movies, everyone is trying to get their hands on the Meta Quest Pro.