Sword Art Online is an anime set in the near future about an MMORPG called SAO. In this future video games are played using the Nerve Gear, a helmet that sends the environment straight into the player’s brain and then intercepts their nerve impulses and uses them as the controller for the players character. This causes their real world body to be unable to move until they log out in game. With this technology playing a video game is just like going to another world.

On the first day of SAO ten thousand player log in to play for the first time. The game’s creator greets them in the game and announces that they will be unable to log out until they beat the final boss, and if they die in the video game their helmets will use radiation to fry their brains in real life. This forces the players to live in a virtual world as they try to clear the game and escape back to reality.

My favourite part of this series is that it matches what I would expect to happen if the technology was made in real life. We already have the Oculus Rift, so all thats left is to hook it up to our nervous system and we will truly be able to escape in a video game. This technology would present some serious health risks, as when you can be fully immersed in a game it would be easy to forget things like eating and sleeping (people already do this will just a controller and a screen.) Theres also the general problem that virtual reality would be more desirable then reality and many would try remain in it forever. People play World of Warcraft for obscene amounts of time already, imagine what would happen if you could actually go to that world? The final problem is that you are completely shut out from the real world while playing. If you were in the virtual world and your house catches on fire the helmet better have a smoke detector built in. There’s also the problem of the people around you trying to remove your helmet. When you try to remove a helmet hooked up to someone’s brain while its in use there are going to be problems.

There are some possible benefits to this system, since the characters are controlled by the players nerve impulses they develop muscle memory that is carried back to the real world. When the main character returns to the real world he is good at wielding blades in real life, but held back by the fact that his body isn’t as strong as it was in the video game. This system would  be excellent for training, such as training doctors to perform delicate operations without needing a guinea pig to practice on. This technology would also allow for many experiences that we normally couldn’t have. Two people across the planet could meet “face to face” Amusement parks could be replaced entirely with virtual roller coasters.

So while the technology in Sword Art Online seems doable within a decade or two, there are plenty of pitfalls for the tech to overcome before it becomes available for the general public.