This VR headset will kill the player in real life if they die in-game

According to Vice's Motherboard, Palmer Luckey, a pioneer in virtual reality and the founder of Oculus, now better known as a component of Facebook's Meta, has developed a VR headset that will actually kill the user if they lose and die in a game.

The new game Sword Art Online, which is based on the Japanese anime and novel of the same name, is launched by players while wearing a NeveGear virtual reality headset. To leave a mad scientist's virtual world, the players must battle their way out of a 100-floor dungeon.

Three explosive charge modules above the screen that are pointed at the player's forehead are connected to the device. In the event that a player lost their life while playing, the human's head would be destroyed by the microwave emitter.

The explosive charges on the headset are ones Luckey typically uses in "different projects," though he did not specify which ones. Luckey also founded Anduril, a weapons and defence contractor that has won significant contracts with the government.

The headset is not available commercially, thankfully.

Palmer expressed a desire to continue experimenting with the technology behind killer headsets and floated the notion of developing an anti-tampering model that couldn't be removed or destroyed. Testing that out, though, might be fatal.