thematrix-2There are few movies which managed to successfully capture the essence of what is both terrifying and incredibly cool about the prospects of virtual reality like 1999’s The Matrix. Its directors, The mysterious Wachowski Brothers, threw in every element of pop culture they thought was cool, added a dash of greek mythology, generous helpings of slow motion, and a sprinkle of Greek mythology to realise one of the best sci-fi action films ever made.

Fast forward to 2014 and we have the Oculus Rift and a new demo from developer Tipatat Chennavasin which attempts to recreate the famous ‘construct introduction’ scene from the movie. In this scene, Neo (played by Keanu Reeves) is introduced to the ‘loading screen’ where the team can tool up before finally entering The Matrix.

thematrix-1The demo lifts audio direct from the movie and steps into Neo’s introduction to reality and just what that reality has been for him all his life. It’s a very early effort, and indeed doesn’t complete the scene, but it’s great fun to finally be able to immerse yourself in a small part of this iconic movie.

You can grab the demo via Tipatat’s home page here.

Thanks to jaochu on the /r/oculus subreddit for the find.

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Paul James
Based in the UK, Paul has been immersed in interactive entertainment for the best part of 27 years and has followed advances in gaming with a passionate fervour. His obsession with graphical fidelity over the years has had him branded a ‘graphics whore’ (which he views as the highest compliment) more than once and he holds a particular candle for the dream of the ultimate immersive gaming experience. Having followed and been disappointed by the original VR explosion of the 90s, he then founded RiftVR.com to follow the new and exciting prospect of the rebirth of VR in products like the Oculus Rift. Paul joined forces with Ben to help build the new Road to VR in preparation for what he sees as VR’s coming of age over the next few years.
  • tipatat

    Thanks for checking out my demo. I definitely want to add more but I thought this was enough to start getting some feedback. I’m actually surprised someone else hadn’t already done this since when I first put on the rift I thought of this scene. I am working on adding the “guns. lots of guns” scene and if I can find people to help I would like to add the women in red sequence as well.

  • tipatat

    Oh, and I wanted add that my last name is spelled “Chennavasin.” Thanks!

    • Paul James

      Apologies Tipatat, not sure what I was thinking there. Now corrected.

      Keep us in the loop with your progress, we too can’t believe no one’s tackled this before either.

  • Druss

    This is, of course, the ultimate VR aspiration. I really hope I keep seeing Matrix-based demo’s every time VR makes a significant leap.

    P.S. You might want to reexamine: “a dash of greek mythology, generous helpings of slow motion, and a sprinkle of Greek mythology”

  • tipatat

    I wanted to let you know that I updated the demo and added the “Guns. Lots of guns” scene at the end now.

  • tipatat

    Hey all, we just released a major upgrade to this demo. I’m now working with Eric Beyhl and Jon Dadley and not only is there DK2 support, but there are 3 never before experienced interactive scenes to really put you in the Matrix. The Matrix Rift was a teaser, but The Matrix VR is the real deal: check it out at http://www.tipatat.com/TheMatrixVR/