The films The Matrix and Inception explore the possibilities and dangers of augmented reality. They warn of the potential for technological advances to manipulate our senses and memories, and emphasize the need for ethical regulation and careful adoption. Considering the positive and negative effects of augmented reality, we must embrace and control it wisely.

Augmented reality as seen in the Matrix

In the movie The Matrix, people lie unconscious in automated incubators, believing that they are actually living productive lives, but in reality they are being drained of energy by computers, born as batteries for machines, and die as batteries. Everything they see, hear, and feel is just electrical signals, and even emotions like love and friendship are manipulated by machines. The film is about the protagonist, Neo, who discovers these facts and, together with other characters, resists the civilization of the machines. The movie asks deep philosophical questions about the nature of humanity and the nature of reality, and reminds us of the dark side of technological advancement.
We may not think it’s realistic right now, but just as we can die one day from an imperceptible amount of poison, we can one day have our memories and emotions manipulated by some force without even realizing that we’ve been brainwashed, and we can’t escape this manipulated reality. If this happens and people realize that their senses have been distorted by augmented reality, will they be able to correct reality again? I don’t think it’s a sure thing. Regan, the character in The Matrix, is confronted with the truth and tries to correct reality, but ultimately chooses to return to the manipulated world because he misses the comfort and worry-free world. Even if we realize that there is a real world that is not as beautiful as the fabricated world, it is difficult to abandon the familiar routine, so people may choose familiarity over truth. This is deeply connected to our nature and reflects our psychological tendency to avoid uncertainty and pain.
The development of augmented reality technology is making the world we perceive more complex, and the ethical and social issues it raises need to be discussed. We are already experiencing new things through early forms of virtual reality and augmented reality, and it is likely that these technologies will become increasingly embedded in our daily lives. To prepare for this future, we need to carefully examine the current advances in technology and their implications.

Augmented reality as seen in Inception

In the movie Inception, the Cobb gang infiltrates the dreams of Mr. Fisher, the head of a large corporation, and plants the idea that they are going to take his company to pieces. It can be said that humans manipulate human thoughts, which is different from the matrix where machines manipulate human senses, thoughts, etc. In other words, it opens up the possibility of changing the manipulation relationship from ‘government → individual’ to ‘individual vs individual’ to a mutual manipulation relationship. If an individual is able to manipulate the thoughts, senses, etc. of another individual, the expected consequences are even more dire.
In the case of the Matrix, individuals cannot even feel their senses being manipulated, so there is no problem in building trust between individuals, and the manipulated world does not lose its own organization. However, unlike the above cases, if individuals are able to manipulate the senses of other individuals, it becomes impossible for them to trust each other. The moment you have the experience of manipulating other people’s emotions, senses, etc. yourself, you will not be able to trust not only other people but also your own memories and emotions, and the manners, norms, etc. that are unconsciously accepted in the current world will be lost. Societies and nations are no exception. If the ability to manipulate sensations, memories, etc. is acquired, no human organization will be immune from their influence. No group would be organized, and society would be disoriented. In such a disorganized society, it is not impossible for computers to dominate humans as they did in The Matrix.
Furthermore, we cannot overlook the possibility that these technologies could be exploited for commercial or political purposes. For example, consumers’ free will would be severely compromised if advertising companies were able to infiltrate our dreams and create positive images of certain products, or if dictatorships were able to manipulate people’s memories to create a history that favors them.

Recommendations

You might think that the two movies mentioned above are a bit far removed from augmented reality. However, if we uncritically accept augmented reality without regulation, there will surely be people who will abuse it, and the above could become a reality. There have been cases of controlling human emotions and behavior through advertising, which is currently banned. Currently, the videos we watch have roughly 24 pictures passing by in a second. Our eyes perceive this as natural movement because the screen changes so quickly that our eyes don’t recognize each one. Since we can’t fully perceive the 24 frames, if you put a different image in one of the 24 frames, we won’t notice it. When we put a specific message in one frame out of every 24 frames in the ad, people didn’t even realize they saw the message, but they actually did what the message asked them to do, and they actually felt the emotions that were written on the screen. In addition to these methods, brainwashing and memory manipulation can occur in ways we don’t even realize, and if it happens repeatedly, we can become addicted to the manipulated reality and eventually lose the will to face the truth.
To prevent this from actually happening, we need to be more cautious in our acceptance of augmented reality. It’s a technology that will be closer to us psychologically and physically than any other technology we’ve ever experienced. The implications of having even the smallest purpose or value attached to it are beyond imagination. Of course, we can’t ignore the positive impacts that augmented reality will bring. However, as we develop and embrace augmented reality, we need to take the time to test it and verify its side effects.
At the same time, we need to start thinking deeply about and discussing the ethical aspects of augmented reality. Alongside legal regulations, ethical guidelines should be put in place to prevent abuse of the technology and ensure that it can truly benefit humanity. Academia, industry, and governments must work together to set the right direction for the technology and ensure that its development is monitored and evaluated to ensure that it has a positive impact on human society.
The progress of technology is unstoppable, but we must wisely control it and guide it in a direction that benefits humanity. The future that augmented reality will bring to us depends on our choices and preparation. We should embrace and utilize augmented reality more carefully from now on, in order to prepare for its potential to distort reality.