This blog post delves deeply into the impact of augmented reality technology on human senses, memory, and society through these two films.
Augmented Reality Through The Matrix
In the film ‘The Matrix,’ people lie unconscious in automatic incubators, believing they are living productive lives. In reality, they are born as batteries for machines, their energy drained by computers, and they die as batteries. Everything people see, hear, and feel is merely electrical signals, and even emotions like love and friendship are manipulated by the machines. The film follows the protagonist, Neo, as he discovers this truth and joins others in resisting the machine civilization. It poses profound philosophical questions about the nature of humanity and reality, reminding us of the dark side of technological advancement.
You might think this is an unrealistic story for now, but just as one might die from poison undetectable to the senses, we too could one day find ourselves manipulated in our memories and emotions by some force’s agenda, unaware we’ve been brainwashed, trapped in this fabricated reality. If people realized their senses had been distorted by augmented reality after such an event, could they ever correct reality again? I don’t think I can guarantee it. The character Reagen from The Matrix confronted the truth and tried to correct reality, yet longed for the comfortable, worry-free world he had been manipulated into, ultimately choosing to return to that fabricated world. Even if people learn that the real world exists, and that it is not more beautiful than the manipulated one, abandoning their familiar daily lives is difficult. Therefore, people might choose familiarity over truth. This is deeply connected to our nature and reflects the human psychological tendency to avoid uncertainty and pain.
The advancement of augmented reality technology is making the world we perceive increasingly complex, necessitating discussions about the ethical and social issues it may raise. We are already experiencing new sensations through early forms of virtual and augmented reality, and it is highly likely these technologies will penetrate deeper into our daily lives. To prepare for this future, we must carefully examine the current development of technology and its resulting impacts.
Augmented Reality Through Inception
In the movie ‘Inception’, Cobb and his team infiltrate the dreams of ‘Fisher’, who has become the head of a major corporation, to implant the idea of dissolving his own company. This differs from The Matrix, where machines manipulate human senses and thoughts, as it involves humans manipulating other humans’ thoughts. In other words, it opens the possibility of shifting from a ‘government → individual’ manipulation relationship to an interactive ‘individual vs. individual’ manipulation dynamic. If individuals gain the ability to manipulate another individual’s thoughts and senses, the anticipated consequences become even more terrifying.
In the Matrix, individuals cannot even sense their senses being manipulated, so building trust between individuals poses no problem; it is a manipulated world but retains its own internal logic. However, unlike the above case, if individuals become capable of manipulating another individual’s senses, mutual trust becomes impossible. The moment one gains firsthand experience manipulating another’s emotions or senses, they can no longer trust not only others’ but also their own memories and feelings. The unspoken etiquette and norms currently operating in the world would be lost. Society and the state are no exception. If the ability to manipulate senses and memories exists, ultimately, no group composed of humans could remain free from its influence. No group will be able to establish a coherent system, and society will lose its direction. In such a directionless society, it is not impossible for computers to dominate humans, as depicted in ‘The Matrix’.
Furthermore, the potential for this technology to be misused for commercial gain or political ends cannot be overlooked. For instance, if advertising companies infiltrate our dreams to implant positive images of specific products, consumers’ free will would be severely compromised. Or, if a dictatorial government manipulates citizens’ memories to implant history favorable to itself, democracy would face a major threat.
Recommendation
One might think the two films mentioned earlier are somewhat distant from augmented reality. However, accepting augmented reality uncritically without regulation will inevitably lead to its misuse, making the scenarios above a reality. Though now banned, there have been cases where advertising controlled human emotions and behavior. The videos we currently watch are composed of approximately 24 images per second. Because the screen changes too quickly for our eyes to perceive each frame individually, our eyes interpret this as natural motion. Because we cannot fully perceive all 24 frames, even if a different image is inserted into one of those 24 frames, we do not recognize it. When a specific message was inserted into one frame out of every 24 frames in an advertisement, people did not even realize they had seen the message. Yet, they actually performed the actions the message instructed them to do and genuinely felt the emotions written on the screen. Beyond this method, using augmented reality could also enable brainwashing and memory manipulation in ways we never imagined. If such occurrences become repetitive, we could become addicted to this manipulated reality, ultimately losing even the will to confront the truth.
To prevent such scenarios from becoming reality, we must adopt a more cautious stance when embracing augmented reality. This technology will position itself closer to us, both psychologically and physically, than any technology we have experienced thus far. Consequently, if even the slightest purpose or value system becomes entangled with augmented reality, the resulting impact could be beyond imagination. Of course, the positive impacts augmented reality will bring cannot be ignored. However, when developing and adopting augmented reality, it is essential to invest sufficient time to test it and verify its side effects.
Alongside this, we must begin deep reflection and discussion on the ethical aspects of augmented reality. Alongside legal regulations, ethical guidelines must be established to prevent misuse of the technology, ensuring augmented reality can provide genuine benefits to humanity. To achieve this, academia, industry, and government must collaborate to set the technology’s proper direction and, through continuous monitoring and evaluation, ensure its development positively impacts human society.
The advancement of technology is an unstoppable tide, but we must wisely control that tide and steer it toward directions beneficial to humanity. The future augmented reality brings us depends on our choices and preparations. In anticipation of its potential to distort reality, we must embrace and utilize augmented reality with even greater caution from this moment onward.
