Virtual reality will trick our easily-fooled brains into believing it’s actual reality, according to Oculus Rift’s head scientist, Michael Abrash. His proof? Optical illusions.
At F8, Facebook’s annual conference in San Francisco, Abrash quoted the red pill monologue from The Matrix, saying, “If real is what you can feel, smell, taste, and see, then ‘real’ is simply electrical signals interpreted by your brain.” He then ran through a series of illusions, ranging from the classic warped checkerboard to a Matrix-themed mental manipulations showing that it doesn’t matter whether we choose the red or the blue pill—if they’re both grey. If he’s right, these types of tricks will help push virtual reality over the edge into close-to-real experiences. Below, check out the illusions that, as Abrash puts it, “[have] the potential to change almost everything about the way we live.”
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This paper dinosaur isn’t actually turning its head, no matter what your eyes tell you.
Watch Michael Abrash’s full speech on YouTube.
Via Quartz
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