Kazuto holding a NerveGear.
The NerveGear (ナーヴギア, Nāvugia?) is the second generation[1] of FullDive technology made by Kayaba Akihiko, released in May 2022.
Appearance
The NerveGear is a streamlined helmet coated in dark blue. At the back is a long pad with a wire the same color as the NerveGear stretching out of it.[2] It also has a battery and internal memory to store data from the games. 30% of the NerveGear's weight is from its internal battery.[3]
Transceivers
The NerveGear's high-density microwave transceivers are capable of accessing the user's brain, allowing it to send fake signals to the five senses of the user.[4] The transceivers are not only capable of inducing fake sensory signals but can also block every movement command from the brain to the body, preventing the player from moving their body while in FullDive to avoid injuries.[4] The transceivers are also capable of blocking sensory information from the body to the brain, thus, while using it, the player is completely insensate to the physical world.[citation needed] The NerveGear is able to destroy a person's brain by emitting high-powered microwaves, shutting down one's vital processes, and Sword Art Online's (SAO) operating system has been programmed to do so if the player's Hit Points are reduced to zero.[3] Despite the exact method that kills a player being disclosed in the story, some of the signs left behind in the brain are cerebral hemorrhaging and arterial occlusion.[5] The NerveGear is equipped with a new generation diamond semiconductor central processor.[6]
Chronology
At the time of the Sword Art Online beta test, there were about 200,000 players in possession of a NerveGear. Half of them applied for the beta test, while only 1,000 of them were actually invited to participate in it.[4]
After the events of the Death Game incident, Argus no longer produced new NerveGear units, and most users instead used RECT's replacement for the system - the AmuSphere, which has significantly less powerful transceivers; it is thus incapable of doing harm to a player, but cannot completely eliminate normal sensory input.
Kirito is one of the few VRMMO players who used a NerveGear even after the SAO incident, though this is likely due to time and monetary constraints in getting an AmuSphere, as he wanted to check out the possibility of Asuna being trapped in ALfheim Online. Eventually, even Kirito switched to using an AmuSphere after the ALO incident.
After the SAO incident, NerveGear systems had been seized and disposed of in accordance with Japanese Code of Criminal Procedure, Article 121.[7]
Even though the NerveGear is considered obsolete, its base technology was used to develop other VR devices, such as the Medicuboid and the Soul Translator.
Usage
A NerveGear cartridge.
To use the NerveGear, the player wears the game console over the head. Then it is recommended for the player to find a comfortable position to station the body, commonly a bed. Afterwards, the game will load upon utterance of the initiation words, "Link Start".
Known Users
Kazuto wearing a NerveGear unit.
- Sword Art Online beta testers
- Sword Art Online players (Heathcliff used a modified version of the NerveGear instead)
Trivia
- The NerveGear's high-density microwave transceivers can determine what the user's face looks like.
- In the Accel World series, written by the same author as Sword Art Online, volume 4, chapter 8 mentions an unnamed VR machine that is similar in background to the NerveGear. Episode 22 of the anime adaptation of the series shows the unnamed machine as a NerveGear.
- Kazuto and Gabriel Miller are two of the few people who still possess a NerveGear after the SAO incident. Kazuto was able to keep his hardware due to negotiations with Kikuoka Seijirou to let him keep it even though all copies of the NerveGear were meant to be disposed of.[8]
References
- ↑ Versus
- ↑ Volume 1, Chapter 25
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Volume 1, Chapter 3
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Volume 1, Chapter 2
- ↑ Volume 5[Clarification needed]
- ↑ Volume 1, Chapter 6
- ↑ https://twitter.com/kunori/statuses/418005010933620736
- ↑ Extra Edition
Costs and Funds
(now for a massive in-depth paragraph about a point in SAO/ nerve gear/ costs) The cost of the game (in theory). yes if the company wanted to make money back from creating this game it would cost each player 6.3k dollars for it to happen. (probably more as that was just based of WoW costs) but then remember this is the same company who made Nerve Gear itself. the amount of money they would of made from selling that device would of easily allowed them to make any game they wanted for it. they have the latest in modern technology to allow someone to go into a whole new world. it wouldn't surprise me if they were a billion dollar company from it. ( just look at Apple ffs, shit technology compared to this and yet they make millions) selling the game at a low ish price wouldn't be a problem, as the console has made enough already. If we would put a price on Nerve Gear compared to our latest gaming computers. the highest i can probably think of is around 20k dollars. now Nerve Gear is a combo of gaming and medical technology. " Total spending on medical devices in the U.S. reached about $150 billion in 2010" " the PS4 is more cost-effective for Sony. Tech-insights estimates that the console's components cost about $296, resulted in a gross profit of about $100 on the $399 console." so on medical side they had allot of funding already and on the gaming side they would be making a 1/3 profit on each console. (or should be) now lets say if the console cost about hmm lets say 60k dollars each. (which is allot i know but knowing the insane technology in it that's a good price) but they are making a 1/3 profit on each they sold, which is more than 10k sold, but lets use that number anyway. they will be making 20k profit on each of those x10k = 200,000,000 dollars. now that's just only the people who brought SAO. lets say 1/4 of the people in japan brought a Nerve gear, for gaming or medical purposes. that would mean 31,825,000 people brought this console. 20k x 31,825,000 = 636,500,000,000 dollars. (insane) i know a 1/4 of japan won't be buying this console but even if 1 million did that's still 20 million dollars been made. ( then there's the Atmosphere which is a improved version of Nerve Gear which could be a more cheap and more consumer friendly version.) and that's just 1 country buying the console the Atmosphere was in EU and America and other places in the world. all that money been made added on. i think they'll be fine with low game costs ^ ^ now after all that if i had to put a price on the game itself i would say in around 100 - 600 dollars. As this is a device costing more than double the most expensive gaming computer we have today, i would say the game would cost more than the normal price for a high end game these days. (which is around 50-60 dollars) most of the data would be server based so your not really buying anything, your just buying the rights to use an estimated amount of space on a server. the game could be FTP tbh but making money of it would make more sense. the client side of the game would be way more than 1TB of data, so that would make the cost go up allot. in the end its allot of money both sides, but i'm sure anyone would pay more than 100k dollars to go into a new world. (good work if you read all this :D )