"Unfortunately, no one can explain what the Matrix is - you have to experience it to understand it."
With these words, Morpheus hands Neo a red pill and a blue pill, and asks him if he wants to play it safe and take the blue one - forgetting all that he has experienced so far - or take the red pill and "see just how deep the rabbit hole goes".
For fans of the classic sci-fi film, The Matrix, (and not the two tacky sequels that were ostensibly part of a trilogy), this is the beginning of a journey into a strange new world where the machines rule the planet and "farm" humans as a source of energy.
Unless you happen to read New Scientist magazine, in which case you might be alarmed to find that not only does the rabbit hole go a lot deeper than we thought, but we are already sliding down the burrow at a quite a speed.
Apparently, Japan`s Sony has patented an idea for transmitting data directly into the brain, with the goal of enabling a person to see movies and play video games in which they smell, taste and perhaps even feel things, according to the publication.
While it is currently only based on a theory, not on any invention, it has already been described as marking the first step towards a "real-life Matrix".
In the film, of course, a cyber-reality is projected via an electrode into the brains of the people who are stored on the above-mentioned "farms", to keep them placid while the machines harvest their bodies` stores of energy.
While Sony claims its patented technique would be entirely non-invasive - it would not use implants or other surgery to manipulate the brain - it is described only as a device that would fire pulses of ultrasound at the head to modify the firing patterns of neurons in targeted parts of the brain.
The aim, it says, is to create "sensory experiences" ranging from moving images to tastes and sounds. This is all well and good, except that this is not where it ends, but where it all begins.
Following the white rabbit
Not only does the rabbit hole go a lot deeper than we thought, but we are already sliding down the burrow at a quite a speed.
Rodney Weidemann, Telecoms editor, ITWeb
The US Army is developing a combat simulator that "shoots" back, delivering an electric shock strong enough to knock down players, and this is being touted as the potential next big thing for home-computer games.
According to reports, players enter a platform with a 360-degree screen that shows scenarios such as freeing hostages, street gun fights, taking out suicide bombers and team attacks on enemy positions.
However, if a player fails to kill an enemy in time and the enemy is able to shoot back, the simulator delivers a powerful electric shock through the player`s hips that has the same power as a stun gun and is capable of knocking the player off their feet.
The theory behind this, says a spokesman for developer VirTra Systems, is that "you have to continue to work through the pain and keep on fighting, as that is what you need to do - to keep on fighting even when wounded, you must regain your composure, shake your head, and get back in the fight as if your life and your unit`s life depended on it".
He also says the developers "use real actors, not computer graphics, and when you shoot them they fall, but if you don`t get them properly they will keep coming".
We have gone so far through the looking glass that we are part of a world where the machines are getting so real that they can actually - as opposed to virtually - hurt you if you fail to kill them first.
Worse still, we`ve reached the point where we`re working on developing the technology that the machines themselves can use to lull us into believing that we, rather than they, are still in control and in charge of the world.
I don`t know about you, but if I see a girl with a white rabbit tattoo, I`ll head in the opposite direction to her, and I`ll break the 100m record to get away if I hear someone say "Mr Anderson" in a nasal voice.
And if anyone offers me the choice, I`m DEFINITELY taking the blue pill!
Share