The game world of the anime Sword Art Online could soon become virtual reality – IBM is working on an implementation of the series success.
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IBM has now announced a new project. With the name “Sword Art Online: The Beginning Project“, tears of joy should immediately well up in the eyes of every anime fan.
The anime is set in the future and deals with the video game “Sword Art Online”, where players can completely immerse themselves in the game world and control their characters using their thoughts. During this time, their thoughts are entirely trapped in the game, and their bodies in the real world are immobile. When the “Logout” button is missing in SAO, 10,000 players find themselves in a suddenly very brutal game for their own lives – because if the avatar dies in the game world, the player also loses their life in reality.
The “game”, as one might say, is being developed in collaboration with Kadokawa, Bandai Namco, and Aniplex, who are responsible for the anime of the same name and have also engaged the original voice actors of Kirito and Asuna.
While not much is known about the project yet, IBM is indeed attempting to make “Cognitive Computing” more practical for the future – that is, the ability to simulate human thoughts and allow computers to “learn” how a human reacts to problems and social situations.
At least in the trailer, it looks more like “only” a virtual reality with VR glasses and motion sensors. For the period between March 18th and 20th, they are already looking for 208 testers in the Greater Tokyo area to try out the basic concept.
We will keep you updated on how the project develops.
Mein-MMO says: This is of course still to be approached with some caution. Even though the goals like “Cognitive Computing” sound incredibly good, it will probably take a few more years until that becomes reality. Just the thought of being able to experience the world of Kirito and Asuna in VR already makes every anime and VR fan jump for joy. If we are lucky, there might actually be a Logout button this time.
