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Oculus founder has made a VR headset that can kill you

Palmer Luckey: "At this point, it is just a piece of office art, a thought-provoking reminder of unexplored avenues in game design."

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Permanently dying and having your character erased in games is something that has been a concept for many, many years. From hardcore mode in Diablo to Steel Battalion on Xbox. But now Oculus founder Palmer Luckey has taken it a step further and given new meaning to the term 'perma death'. That's because his new VR headset can kill the player for real with three explosive charges aimed at the forehead that, when detonated, have the power to instantly destroy the user's head and brain.

Inspired primarily by the game Sword Art Online, Palmer also describes on his blog how the concept of tying one's life to an avatar is something that has long fascinated him. It is worth pointing out that the headset is currently only an art installation and on his blog he describes in more detail how it is supposed to work.

"I used three of the explosive charge modules I usually use for a different project, tying them to a narrow-band photosensor that can detect when the screen flashes red at a specific frequency, making game-over integration on the part of the developer very easy. When an appropriate game-over screen is displayed, the charges fire, instantly destroying the brain of the user."

"At this point, it is just a piece of office art, a thought-provoking reminder of unexplored avenues in game design. It is also, as far as I know, the first non-fiction example of a VR device that can actually kill the user. It won't be the last."

Would you dare to wear a VR headset that could kill you and how do you think this type of hardware could affect the way people interact online or in games?

Oculus founder has made a VR headset that can kill you


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