Nisshoku

True a pod would be easier, but you're looking at a much much higher cost to manufacture a pod as opposed to a helmet like console similar to SAO. Cheaper manufacturing cost means the console will be more affordable. And you won't have to worry about space for a big pod in your house. The Helmet idea had much neater storage. Imo

After giving this some thought, I have come up with a theory on how this is possible maybe even faster than we can expect. Before one starts development on any prototype of a NerveGear like rig, they first need to do all the research on how to make an SAO fantasy, reality. In the game, when they log in, they can't move their bodies in the real world. I theorize that they are essentially Lucid Dreaming which is making them feel like they are in the game. For anyone who doesn't know, lucid dreaming is basically where one is consciously aware that they are dreaming. As of today, it is possible to induce lucid dreaming. So the first obstacle in making the rig, is finding a way to let it send signals to the brain, which would allow the person dreaming to be aware of it. The next obstacle is getting the actual dream/game to operate. All that needs to be done, is like in SAO, have the gaming rig pick up brain signals from a person, and transport them into the rig. From there, the rig executes all the commands, and then sends it back into the player's brain, updating they're dream/game and making the player feel like they just say executed an attack. Since computer programming is pretty easy, programming the rig to execute a command from a players brain signal shouldn't be too much of a hassle. Once we have a way to send brain signal from the brain, to a gaming rig, and then back to the brain, and once we have a way to induce lucid dreaming for long periods of time, this could easily be accomplished. You would also need a log out command option that will tell the rig that the player is done, and then sends a signal back to the brain to un-induce the lucid dreaming. Also. a smart idea would be a fail safe log out. I would suggest that once a player "logs in" and they're game sequence starts, a 12 hour countdown timer starts as well.. And once it hits 0, the player is forced to log out. This would ensure that people don't go overboard with the game which could become very unhealthy, if not fatal. I keep thinking about what I have just said over and over, and the more I think about it, the more I really do feel that it is within reach and certainly possible. Especially with the technology these days. Look how far we've come since the Cold War began. If things progress at their current rate, we could advance the same amount within less time than the period between the Cold War and the present day. Anyway that's my two cents on the matter. Again I am just theorizing this, and possibly some of it is not or will not ever be possible. But, i hope i also have given whoever builds a VR Gaming rig a lot of insight and great ideas that could be essential for completing this project. Here is the website where I got my info on the Lucid Dreaming: http://www.infiniteminds.info/Lucid-Dreaming/The-COBRAS-Method-How-to-directly-induce-lucid-dreams.html Also, try taking the small experiment they have on the website and try to induce your own Lucid Dreaming. :D