AmuSphere



AmuSphere (アミュスフィア) is a second generation FullDive console, co-developed by RECT Progress Inc., that is the successor to the NerveGear. Its successor, temporarily named as AmuSphere 2, is planned to be shown in the 2026 Tokyo Game Show and released to the market in 2027.

Appearance
The AmuSphere is a helmet that consists of two metal overlapping rings.

Safety Measures
The system has been modified to make it safer than its predecessor by changing the microwave transmitter to a low-frequency one and the incorporation of various sensors that continually monitor blood pressure and brain waves. If the person's condition becomes abnormal, a safety logout is provoked. This, by default, includes an option that automatically logs out a person if the avatar begins to fall asleep. Unlike the NerveGear, the AmuSphere is not equipped with an internal battery.

In addition to other safety measures, the AmuSphere does not block out signals from the body to the extent of its predecessor, the NerveGear, so some players may rent a specialized room which blocks all external interference, designed to make the experience inside the virtual world all the more realistic.

Usage
As with the NerveGear, it is recommended for the player to get into a comfortable position before beginning to use the device. Once the player has the device worn over the head in a comfortable position, the console can be activated by saying «Link Start».

Imaginator
The Imaginator (イマジェネレイター) is a widely used software on the AmuSphere. The software generates a virtual space for diving where the user may record a message, which can be compressed into mail format and sent to another user. When the receiver plays the file, the sender's recorded virtual body and spoken message would be reproduced. The program also allows conveying video, audio, and even the sense of touch.

An incident occurred when a security loophole was found in the software. A certain virus-infected message would cause a preview of something erotic or gross to be forcefully opened in surround sound and colour when a user dived in with such an infected message in their inbox.

Known Users

 * ALO Players, except Konno Yuuki
 * GGO Players

Trivia

 * The AmuSphere has a feature of automatically disconnecting the user if anyone from a special list of important people (e.g. family members) or emergency services (e.g. the police, the hospital) calls them.
 * Players with a Nerve Gear are free to use it to play games made for the Amusphere. Despite marketting itself as a seperate, safer device than the Nerve Gear, the Amusphere is 100% back compatible and uses almost identical hardware and software, just with some further miniaturization. This betrays the fact that the Amusphere is functionally identical to the Nerve Gear, just with a weaker RF transmitter (so a lethal radiation pulse can't be delivered, with the side effect of less complete external stimulus blocking) and no internal battery (so forcible depowering is possible). The added safty logoff is simply implemented in software, and can be backported to the Nerve Gear (although it is unclear if this prevents the Death Game protocol from being implemented; possibly a Nerve Gear with these safty features installed would kill it's user in a Death Game situation as it would involuntarily log them off, triggering the lethal radiation pulse).