IBM Japan Reveals Project for a Sword Art Online Virtual Reality MMO

<p>Interesting goings-on over at IBM Japan&comma; as they have launched a <a href&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;vrmmo-project&period;jp&sol;" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener noreferrer">website<&sol;a> &lpar;in Japanese of course&rpar; showcasing their plans for an alpha testing of a virtual reality game based on the <em>Sword Art Online<&sol;em> franchise&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><amp-youtube layout&equals;"responsive" width&equals;"500" height&equals;"281" data-videoid&equals;"fcGhGEfHdWs" title&equals;"ソードアート・オンライン ザ・ビギニング Sponsored by IBM"><a placeholder href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;youtu&period;be&sol;fcGhGEfHdWs"><img src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;i&period;ytimg&period;com&sol;vi&sol;fcGhGEfHdWs&sol;hqdefault&period;jpg" layout&equals;"fill" object-fit&equals;"cover" alt&equals;"ソードアート・オンライン ザ・ビギニング Sponsored by IBM"><&sol;a><&sol;amp-youtube><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>This is pretty appropriate&comma; considering <em>Sword Art Online<&sol;em> heavily centers around the virtual world of an MMORPG&comma; although in the anime the players also end up getting stuck in said world so let’s hope that can be avoided here&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Called <em>Sword Art Online&colon; The Beginning<&sol;em>&comma; it seems that the completed game will utilize IBM Japan’s cognitive computer computing system &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Watson”&comma; as well as the cloud service SoftLayer&period; The trailer also shows the Oculus Rift DK2 being used&comma; though it’s not known if that will be what is used when the game is finished or if it’s just being used for the alpha test&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>In fact there’s not too much more information on what the game will be like or what it will entail&comma; but one unique aspect is that during the alpha test players will have 3D scans made of their bodies as their actual avatar &lpar;which is in keeping with the <em>Sword Art Online <&sol;em>motif&rpar; and in place of a traditional game controller there will be some sort of motion controller which will allow players to use their bodies to interact with the virtual world&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The alpha test for <em>Sword Art Online&colon; The Beginning<&sol;em> will be held in Tokyo&comma; Japan starting March 18<sup>th<&sol;sup> and ending on the 20<sup>th<&sol;sup>&period; IBM Japan is accepting applications until March 4<sup>th<&sol;sup>&comma; when 208 participants will be chosen&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Source&colon; <a href&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;vrmmo-project&period;jp&sol;">IBM Japan<&sol;a> &lpar;via <a href&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;animenewsnetwork&period;com&sol;news&sol;2016-02-22&sol;ibm-japan-reveals-sword-art-online-virtual-reality-mmo-project&sol;&period;98977">Anime News Network<&sol;a>&rpar;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Trailer via Sword Art Online The Beginning Project&comma; <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;youtube&period;com&sol;watch&quest;v&equals;fcGhGEfHdWs" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener noreferrer">YouTube<&sol;a><&sol;p>&NewLine;