Time to take another step on the road to making anime real by putting Sword Art Online, an anime best known for heavy integration of virtual reality tech, into real-life virtual reality. A commemorative Sword Art Online Alicization VRChat event will take place December 26-27, 2020 in the popular social program. Free to attend for anyone with VRChat, the event will be held in a specially designed space and feature special movie showings and live chats with franchise luminaries.
The Sword Art Online VRChat event was announced via official Twitter channels:
Virtual worlds intersect! Sword Art Online Synthesis -The Period Alicization Project- is coming soon in #VRChat. Watch some special live streams, and explore official environments from the Underworld! https://t.co/jSivogxLe6
— VRChat (@VRChat) December 9, 2020
The Sword Art Online VRChat event is titled “Synthesis -The Period of Alicization Project-.” And though the program specifically looks back at the anime adaptations of the franchise’s “Alicization” arc (via the recent series Sword Art Online: Alicization and War of Underworld), the special VRChat space appears based on the original “Aincrad” arc. The are is inspired by the plaza from Aincrad’s Town of Beginnings, the space where Kirito and Asuna were first trapped inside the death game. The program will include live chats featuring the show’s voice actors, as well as the creators of the original novels, anime, and even games (most likely Alicization Lycoris). Two special movies, titled Symphonic Alicization Orchestra Special Edition and Symphonic Alicization Orchestra War of Underworld Special Edition, will appear.
VRChat itself is free to download and is available on Steam, Oculus, and HTC Vive storefronts. The program allows players to don avatars and walk around virtual spaces, engaging in text and voice chat. The good news for those who don’t have VR headsets is that VRChat doesn’t actually require one to use. Players outside VR won’t be as immersed in the world or be able to use motion controls without the supporting hardware, of course, but the compatibility allows a much wider range of potential participants. Players who are interested in the Sword Art Online event’s content but can’t make it into VRChat can also watch the talks and movies streamed on Youtube Live.
Sword Art Online Synthesis -The Period of Alicization Project- VRChat event will go live on December 26, 2020 at midnight Japan time, and continue until midnight on December 27, 2020. A movie based on the Progressive prequel novels is scheduled for a 2021 debut. You can also check out Sword Art Online: The Beginning, a 2016 proof-of-concept attraction that used various “live” VR technologies to mimic the franchise’s fictional “Nervgear” headset.
