Over at F8, the annual Facebook Developer Conference, Michael Abrash delivered a monologue from The Matrix in an effort to convince us that virtual reality will lead us to anything other than a horrific Keanu-dystopia in which we are all used as batteries for robot overlords.
It was part of the chief scientist’s talk on the nature of human perception and how it relates to Oculus VR, and how his company’s efforts to turn The Matrix from fiction to fact must work in tandem with our brain’s own internal model of the universe.
It’s fascinating stuff, with lots of examples of neat visual illusions in case you start getting bored. You can watch the whole thing here.
Abrash’s talk also touches on a few of the hurdles Oculus has yet to overcome, with haptic feedback chief among them. He describes technologies in this area as “embryonic”, but is confident that development is already being made, concluding that “a lot of powerful forces are coming together to make VR happen”.