"This is the world that you know; the world as it was at the end of the 20th century. It exists now only as part of a neural-interactive simulation that we call the Matrix." &emdash; Morpheus to Neo in The Matrix

I have to imagine that quote has inspired countless sci-fi enthusiasts, researchers and technologists. Actually, I don't have to imagine it because this research paper directly cites it. They go on to ask the question: How close are we to realizing the vision of The Matrix (1999), where AI crafts a fully immersive, interactive world, blurring the line between reality and illusion?

Then it goes into some details and examples about a new interactive, realtime, AI model that they've built that lets you steer an object through a limitless 3D space. They primarily use a car through familiar terrain but the examples further down the page get much more wild. I recommend making sure you scroll all the way down and watch them all. There's no interactive demo yet but you get the gist.

Clearly, here in 2024, we are nowhere near the reality shown in The Matrix (as far as I can tell) but the question the researchers pose does contain a phrase worth pondering a bit. We do not have "fully immersive, interactive worlds," but we do seem to be edging into examples that "blur the line between reality and illusion." It's all about escalation from there, no?