Post 8.

"It's a state known as the Locked-in Syndrome, a state where even if the brain's thinking process is normal, the body's handicapped in its control on its parts, and the patient can't express his thoughts. If we use the Medicuboid, we can connect directly deep into the brain, and even if the body doesn't move, it is possible to return to society through the VR world." (Kawahara, 2011)

If we ignore the condition of the patient and just jump into how the tech connects deep into the user's brain, it kind of resembles the other tech in the novel which is more focus to the gaming industry instead of medical things. The inside of the nervegear contains a number of signal transceivers that enables the gear to gain access to the brain. This gives the gear the ability to block and reroute signals the brain send to the body to initiate a part paralysis state. With this, the user themselves does not need to use any of their five organs to detect signals or impulses. The goal is to achieve a full virtual reality experience without unnecessary interference from the real world. (Kawahara, 2009)

"This can be called the most basic requirement for moving freely in a virtual reality. If the body received the brain’s signals when the user was in FullDive, the moment the user decided they wanted to «run» their actual body would run into a wall." (Kawahara, 2009)

It's kind of like a self create locked-in syndrome only this time for the sake of playing rpg games. In relation to current tech, Oculus Rift still requires the users' five organs to detect stimuli.

Essay wise, I don't really know where to go from this point on. I guess I could tie it back to the why people would fling western swords in the future.



References:

Kawahara, R. (2010) Sword Art Online: Volume 1- Aincard.  Translated from Japanese by Sharramon. Japan: ASCII Media Works'Dengeki Bunko.

Kawahara, R. (2010) Sword Art Online: Volume 5 - Phantom Bullet.  Translated from Japanese by Black Cats of the Full Moon and Teh_Ping. Japan: ASCII Media Works'Dengeki Bunko.