This single still is from the widescreen version of ?World Record?, one of the Animatrix animated shorts. It has been considerably scaled back from the original material.

This image speaks of two possible vectors, both worthy of consideration.

1. Firstly, it speaks of the necessity for a layer of safety built into any VR as they become more immersive. Such a layer is not needed for some decades at time of writing, as VR interfaces are not nearly totally sensory immersive. However, as we near the time that they will be, we shall have to think about safety protocols to ensure that a person can know when they are in a VR, and when they are not ? and consciously choose to log out, such that the system will not quibble, in any way at all.

2. The second point is no less potent. In the frame above, Dan Davis, who was an Olympic sprinter in the simulation, has just with no warning, been shoved out of the simulation into an outside world he has no memory of. This did not happen gradually, there was no real transition, and unsurprisingly he came up panicked and swinging, without a clue what was going on. This type of reality disconnect is inherently dangerous, and would happen in any sensory VR when the perspective shifted too suddenly, in much the same way.

It stands as a reminder that when switching from scene to scene, and especially when transitioning from the VR to the physical or the other way round, that there should be a gradual transition to at least minimize the shock and the danger.

Link: Animatrix: World Record