»The Unified Matrix Interface Theory (UMIT)«

I've mentioned this idea in several places elsewhere in the forums, and am restating it here for completeness.

OK, the purpose of this theory is to describe roughly just how humans can be hooked up to the matrix, and it's implications. If this is consistent, it should also explain things like Bane's possession, and Neo's real-world powers.

THE THEORY

The theory can be stated as follows:

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Humans born into the matrix are modified physically, genetically, and biologically to enable them to be hooked into the matrix. These modifications consist of... 1. Hardware Components These are the attachments at the back of the brainstem, and also the other plugs for monitoring feedback from the body and syphoning energy from it. 2. "Wetware" Constructs This is an organic component consisting of modified brain and stem cells, that are attached directly between the hardware components and the other regular cells of the nervous system. They enable information/energy to be sent/received from a body to the machine component that is the Matrix. Each nervous system therefore can be considered a extension of the Matrix, and either Matrix is an extension of a person's nervous system. 3. "Wetware" Systems This is a form of software that regulates the interface between the Matrix and each individual. It's principal use would be twofold -- the exchange of information and the monitoring of energy exchange. The "software" would be very simple but uniform. In a body it might have an entirely biological base whereas within the matrix it would be entirely electronic.

There are some implications of 2 and 3. Energy may go two ways: either body -> machines (normal mode) or machines -> body. The later would be possible because, the wetware system that runs the matrix probably wouldn't distinguish between an "organic program" (humans) and "non-organic programs" (machines).
In this sense, all humans hooked into the Matrix are programs, and have the same constraints as other programs.

The Matrix then is not only the means by which the machines keep control over humans plugged into it, but also the means by which the energy those humans provide is exchanged and monitored.

Also, there must be somewhere a "body-image" of what each sort of program is supposed to look like within the matrix. This body-image might also include routines or software that are involved in manipulation of the matrix and the body/hardware of the "program" hooked in.

In humans it's reasonable to suppose that a version of this resides in storage in their brain (we'll call this the "core-image"). In machines this might reside in the processing centres of whatever hardware they are constructed from. In both cases there might also be a "cache" of that body-image, a version of it that exists in "general memory" within the matrix for easier or quicker access. It is this cache that exiled programs use to survive in the Matrix.

EVIDENCE FROM THE FILMS

OK, how's the theory hold up against the evidence seen in the films. Just what is there to support it one way or another.

The Matrix

Telephone Exchanges
Humans when jacked in appear near in the Matrix near an image of that phone, and when jacked out disappear from the Matrix. Because their nervous system is no longer hooked in to the rest of the Matrix, there's no access to their body-image, and the cache gets downloaded to the brain, hence they vanish.

Agent Possession
Agents appear to be programs that exist entirely within the Matrix. They are able to override most organic programs and insert their own body-images over the cache body-image of that program for the duration. Remember, the core-image is kept in the brain of the human, so after the possession ceases, the cache gets "refreshed" by the core-image from the host.

What we don't see in the first film is what happens when a agent ceases possession for any reason other than death of the host. Not do we see whether or not a normal agent can possess more than one host at a time. Do Smith and the other agents actually have an independent body-image, or do they just possess hosts all the time? We can't say either way.

Images in the "Training Matrix"
Morpheous uses a "mini-matrix" to train Neo in martial arts, and later Neo and Trinity use a different version to lock and load. In both cases the Matrix used is separate from the Main one, and yet our characters still retain a body-image of their appearance (which Morpheous calls a "residual matrix-image"). This implies that there is a core-image in the human brain.

Since the characters look different from what they do in reality, it's clear that the core-image is susceptible to self-alteration. Thus, Morpheous, Neo and Trinity appear in the Matrix in sunglasses and leather/latex/pvc because these are images of power and power-dressing.

Cypher's Arrangement
Cypher seeks to be re-inserted into the Matrix and to have his memory wiped. This implies that individual memories can be altered when hooked directly into the matrix. If you can alter individual memory, you can change identity as well, as our memories define who we are, by who we've been.

Death of Shipmates
When Apoc and the other crew members die, we see their body-images in the matrix collapse and remain motionless. They don't disappear because, even though their bodies are dead, their nervous system is still hooked up, and the core-image is still being accessed (or causing the body-image to be refreshed). The same applies to human hosts who've been possessed by agents, after they've been killed.

Downloading Skills
When Trinity has the skill to fly a helicopter "downloaded", she doesn't actually learn this skill, rather, a module is added to her interface that simulates her being able to do this. Remember, this is the Matrix, not the real world, so appearances are reality.

Matrix Reloaded

Smith's Possession of Agents
Smith has raised the level of agent possession, so that instead of only being able to possess human hosts, he can now possess agent hosts as well. If each agent is already possessing a human host, then this is just replacement of one overlay with another (and a copy at that), by direct means, and not via the normal Matrix method.

Unlike the first film, we can see that this method of possession doesn't remove Smith from the original host. He stays. We only ever see one Smith do any possessing in any one scene -- that is, we don't see two Smiths possessing two agents -- so it is reasonable to assume that it may be the original Smith doing this.

Neo's Coat
Neo wears a different outfit in the Matrix now, one that resembles a priest's robe. This is a reflection of his changing self image, and how he now believes himself to be "The One".

Smith's Possession of Bane
Normal agent possession seems only to have worked on human hosts who were still hooked up completely to the Matrix and unaware of what it was. Thus, Morpheous, Trinity, et al, were immune from possession because it was only their brain that was hooked in, not their energy systems.

However, Smith's method of possessing Bane, like the Agents he possesses and converts, is a direct process (symbolised by the fact that he has to insert his hand into the victim) rather than a filtered one. Thus Smith has copied his overlay into Bane's cache version of his body-image, and then when that is downloaded from the Matrix it overwrites bane's core-image.

This doesn't mean that Smith has replaced all of Bane's personality, but he does have control of the bits are important for motor control of the body, via the wetware systems.

Neo stopping the Sentinels
Neo stops these shortly after he has been disconnected from the Matrix. But something went wrong when he disconnected - the cache version of his body-image didn't download properly (it gets stuck at "Mobil Ave").

At some point he has become connected directly to the Source and the Oracle explains (later, in Revolutions) that it's this that enables him to stop them. Now there is no proper explanation of "the Source", but it is referred to earlier in the film in Neo's conversation with the Architect. Neo's function (according to the Architect) is to return to the Source and restart the Matrix.

It seems to me that the best explanation is that Neo's cache version of his body-image was "enabled" by the Architect (perhaps by Neo being there) to "prime" Neo for going through the other door, which lead directly to the Source. This priming has somehow enabled the direct link, and because of it, Neo's cache version of his body-image was "out of synch" and hence couldn't initially be downloaded completely (though the partial download enabled the link).

Neo functioned OK for a while, but some part of his wetware systems failed because the cache image hadn't been download -- hence the Coma after Neo's first access of the source.

Matrix Revolutions

Mobil Ave
This appears to be a "back door" method of access by non-organic programs to the Matrix. "Front door" access would exist for the Architect and Agents. It has been shown that non-organic programs that no longer have a function are "flagged" to be deleted at some future date (though some form of choice seems to exist for them).

This is the Merovingian's source of power, to be able to smuggle programs in from the machine world into the Matrix, and he may have been the first (or maybe 2nd) program to be able to do this. But exiles that are in the Matrix can only survive while that it exists, so that their cache versions of body-image can be run.

It may be that there is not a one-one ratio between non-organic programs and the machines they run. Certainly programs exist solely in the Matrix anyway, though not all of them may have sentience.

Neo's cache version of his body-image was trapped at this location because, when its attempted download failed, it was the most logical place for it to go -- into a "holding location" for exiled programs! It's later download probably succeeds because Neo is now aware of the connection, so a slightly different transfer protocol is used, and the core-image overlaid with the new body-image.

Also note that Rama-Kandra and his wife are due to be deleted. Why? Rama is power plant systems manager for recycling operations. His wife, Kamala is an interactive software programmer. With the Matrix being shut down, and all the humans in it dying, neither is needed!

Neo's Vision
Neo seams to be able to see while blind. All the vision though, matches electrical/power discharges/patterns. But in either case it wouldn't be raw input. Rather, Neo's wetware systems are interpreting those patterns. Hence, possessed Bane looks like Smith, because Neo's interface is recognising the body-image that has been overlayed in Bane.

Neo also doesn't have this ability until he comes out of the coma, after he has his "upgrade" and is connected to the Source. The "real world" of films is crisscrossed with powerlines and conduits, carrying who knows what to where. Neo now has a direct line to the Source, which appears to be the base code used in the Machine World. Perhaps all the conduits et cetera act as a "Wireless Connection" between Neo and the machine world.

Smith's Elimination
Smith is eliminated because, with Neo being properly connected again to the Matrix (note that all his power connections are also connected, not just his neural plug) he becomes a direct link to Smith when possessed by him. Because Neo is hooked up to the power systems, not just the information systems, that power can be transferred both ways, and shunted into Smith and all the possessed hosts that Smith controlled.

This is the reverse of the Smith's method of directly possessing agents and humans.

Neo's Residual Image
At the end of the film, Neo appears to be physically dead. His image still appears in the Matrix, even though his body has been disconnected from it. This implies that Neo's cache version of his body-image is now separate from his core-image. Perhaps now, Neo can exist independently in the Matrix.

Restoration of the Matrix
At the end of the film we see that Seraph, the Oracle and Sati have been restored. This fits in with the idea of how Smith's possession worked, temporarily overlaying their body-images. There would therefore also be backups of the originals somewhere.



Does this all hold water? You tell me. What counter evidence is there to contradict it from the films?

I like the technical analysis you have provided of the actual processes. The Smith stuff seems to pan out. One thing though: where does purpose fit into all of this? Especially in Smith's final destruction. His simultaneous hesitation, action, and look of disbelief has to be explained.

Interesting explanations, and most fit. But you seem to have missed key points the W. Bro's (to me) seem to have outlined (in relation to Neo's real world powers and significance). Hope, Faith, Miracles, Preminitions, Love, Spirituality etc. Its all very well explaining things with logic and reason, much like the machines would, but I personally feel the point lies more within the human emotive contructs, and the mysteries this world seems to breed every day. Things like love and hope arn't logical, or reasonal, or rational, and that seems to be where Neos greatest source of strength lies. Basically I believe his visions and real-world powers were more to do with a spiritual connection with "The Source" and the machines.

I'm only in disagreement with the "Neo's real world powers" part of your argument, but I agree mainly with the rest in regards to the mechanics of the matrix and Real-World to Matrix transferrences.

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But you seem to have missed key points the W. Bro's (to me) seem to have outlined (in relation to Neo's real world powers and significance). Hope, Faith, Miracles, Preminitions, Love, Spirituality etc.

Well, in respect to the above, maybe they're irrelevant. That is to say, the Matrix is the playing field upon which these qualities can be displayed, so the mechanics of how it's done are merely the base, not the point.

I think I did get the point of the trilogy (old fashioned as it might seem to some) but there's a lot here who may not.

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One thing though: where does purpose fit into all of this? Especially in Smith's final destruction. His simultaneous hesitation, action, and look of disbelief has to be explained.

And Smith, well as a program he has some form of emotion doesn't he? I'd be suprised too, in that situation.

but no theory or comprehensive speculation of the Matrix is legitimate unless it discusses purpose. At least that's my opinion.

Quite so, though I guess it was a little out of the scope of the theory -- a bit like explaining how a radio works but not what it's used for.

Though, don't we have at least one explanation from the film, that the the Matrix was a giant system for syphoning and controlling energy from humans. I know that theory's been rediculed a bit (it comes across like an "excuse" rather than a "reason") but there doesn't really seem to be a better one consistent with the evidence shown in the films.

a few arguments to your exemplary work:

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Unlike the first film, we can see that this method of possession doesn't remove Smith from the original host. He stays. We only ever see one Smith do any possessing in any one scene -- that is, we don't see two Smiths possessing two agents -- so it is reasonable to assume that it may be the original Smith doing this.

we do see an attempt by 3 smiths to directly replicate on to morpheus in the maintenance portal that leads to the architect. however, this does not refute your logical theory about the mechanism for smith's process of replicaton. BRAVO

your therums on Mobil Ave, the source, and the one's power extending into both worlds needs some refinement:

reffering to your quote within your thoery, the trainman is a wetworks system. the train itself represents the wetworks contstruct. mobil ave is a wetworks auxilary program created by the trainman. the trainman created this axuliary program to smuggle programs for the merovingian in exchange for information. remember that the merovingian is a trafficer of information. what type of information? the trainman knows that the previous zion lasted only 72 hours upon the previous attack by the machines (this appeared in Enter the Matrix). though this is superfulous information to a wetworks program, knowledge can be equated to power. we now know why the trainman works for the merovingian.

the source is the machine mainframe where the unblanced equation of the matrix is stored. the anamoly returns to the souce by choice (since he or she is irrevocably human). the anamoly's return to the source instantaneously balances the equation AND resets it.

the architect could not enable anything on the anamoly because it cannot solve for it. it cannot and will never be able to comprehend the equation that is the anamoly.

a failure in the wetorks system during tranference of organic programs would lead to serious neural damage. we would have had an indication on film if this were the case. although trinity and the anamoly's exit are not filmed, a frame by frame anlysis of the scene shows no signs of behavior by the anamoly that would lead to a sudden coma.

in fact the trigger for his coma is clearly and dramaticly filmed when he stops the sentinals. how does he stop the sentinals? the anamoly is the balancing equation to the unbalanced equation stored in the machine mainframe. as such, he can resolve any variable created by the machine mainframe (this would include sentinals). this logically leads to the questions:

wouldn't the anamoly's solution for terminating the sentinals return him to the source, thereby reseting the matrix? why did the anamoly fall into a coma and end up in the trainman's construct instead?

the anamoly would have returned to the source if he was connected to the matrix. instead the organic program instantly went to the wetworks system sentient in the hardware components present in all who were once connected to the matrix and was sheltered in the trainman's construct. amazing how the anamoly could have been lost had the trainman's lust for knowledge not led him to create an auxilary program to facilitate the merovingian's taste for exiled progrmas.

OK - but why doesn't the anamoly fall into a coma when he stops the sentinals during the final flight of the logos? logically he does not stop the sentinals in the same manner (by nullification) doing so would indeed send him back into the wetworks construct - but my memory is failing me and i would need to review the particular scene for deeper analysis.

your logical breakdown on the wetworks systems in general are a phenomenal read. BRAVO

for an in depth logical breakdown of the equation that is the matrix please refer to my theory: matrix-explained.com...



- drumcode -

Great post, I agree with the majority of it. However, there are some points I would like to agree against:

What we don't see in the first film is what happens when a agent ceases possession for any reason other than death of the host. Not do we see whether or not a normal agent can possess more than one host at a time. Do Smith and the other agents actually have an independent body-image, or do they just possess hosts all the time? We can't say either way. - The Agents can only take over one body at a time. They are many situations in The Matrix Trilogy where using many bodies would help the Agents, but it doesn't happen.

Downloading Skills
When Trinity has the skill to fly a helicopter "downloaded", she doesn't actually learn this skill, rather, a module is added to her interface that simulates her being able to do this. Remember, this is the Matrix, not the real world, so appearances are reality. - Seems good, can't be sure though. Good evidence for your theory, however, is when in The Matrix Revolutions Bane is fighting Neo in the Real World and there is not kung-fu used. They are many explantations for this, however, but I won't go into that now.

Smith's Possession of Agents
Smith has raised the level of agent possession, so that instead of only being able to possess human hosts, he can now possess agent hosts as well. If each agent is already possessing a human host, then this is just replacement of one overlay with another (and a copy at that), by direct means, and not via the normal Matrix method. - Actually, Smith doesn't actually take over the Agent program, just the body that Agent had taken over. Because after Smith takes the Agent in the park in The Matrix Reloaded, we later see that Agent in the Freeway Chase.

Unlike the first film, we can see that this method of possession doesn't remove Smith from the original host. He stays. We only ever see one Smith do any possessing in any one scene -- that is, we don't see two Smiths possessing two agents -- so it is reasonable to assume that it may be the original Smith doing this. - Copying an Agent is not special, because it is (as I said before) only copying the body that Agent has taken over. And any Smith can copy himself, (there is not way one Smith copied himself that many times, and we see more than one Smith copying Morpheus in The Matrix Reloaded).

Smith's Possession of Bane
Normal agent possession seems only to have worked on human hosts who were still hooked up completely to the Matrix and unaware of what it was. Thus, Morpheous, Trinity, et al, were immune from possession because it was only their brain that was hooked in, not their energy systems.

However, Smith's method of possessing Bane, like the Agents he possesses and converts, is a direct process (symbolised by the fact that he has to insert his hand into the victim) rather than a filtered one. Thus Smith has copied his overlay into Bane's cache version of his body-image, and then when that is downloaded from the Matrix it overwrites bane's core-image.

This doesn't mean that Smith has replaced all of Bane's personality, but he does have control of the bits are important for motor control of the body, via the wetware systems - I'm pretty sure that Smith totally copied Bane, as we can Bane is speaks and acts and IS Smith. His brain patterns are different, his brain has become Smith.

Also note that Rama-Kandra and his wife are due to be deleted. Why? Rama is power plant systems manager for recycling operations. His wife, Kamala is an interactive software programmer. With the Matrix being shut down, and all the humans in it dying, neither is needed! - Actually, they say that there daughter is not needed. They say that they are going back.

LauraS wrote:

Cypher's Arrangement Cypher seeks to be re-inserted into the Matrix and to have his memory wiped. This implies that individual memories can be altered when hooked directly into the matrix. If you can alter individual memory, you can change identity as well, as our memories define who we are, by who we've been. Death of Shipmates When Apoc and the other crew members die, we see their body-images in the matrix collapse and remain motionless. They don't disappear because, even though their bodies are dead, their nervous system is still hooked up, and the core-image is still being accessed (or causing the body-image to be refreshed). The same applies to human hosts who've been possessed by agents, after they've been killed.

CYPHER'S ARRANGEMENT - it's possible that they had no intention of following through with their agreement with Cypher if it proved to be not the most efficient way of dealing with him after they've gotten what they wanted.

DEATH OF SHIPMATES - the nervous systems of the dead shipmates are NOT still hooked up. the only person we saw die in the Matrix that remained hooked up was Mouse, when he got shot. Cypher removed Apoc and Switch's links to the Matrix when he pulls the plug out of the back of their heads.

same in The Animatrix, Jue's body didn't disappear when the Osiris was destroyed, but i'm pretty sure the link between the Matrix and her nervous system was severed when the ship exploded.

Great techie explanation of how the Matrix works. However, something about the body-image doesn't seem to fit correctly. Why is it that the body image of a person plugged to a Matrix resembles his/her physical self? Especially, all those human "crops" plugged to the Matrix - Would it be possible that the sentinels or whichever machines guard the crops photograph the "crops", perform some rudimentary processing on the images and feed the images back into the Matrix, so that they can be re-inserted into the brains of those people?

I haven't seen Aimatrix properly yet (I don't have a DVD player) and haven't seen/played "Enter the Matrix" so I haven't included or accounted for evidence from those sources.

Some good points everyone. I might have to rethink parts of the theory. Expect an update to it soon.

LauraS wrote:

I haven't seen Aimatrix properly yet (I don't have a DVD player) and haven't seen/played "Enter the Matrix" so I haven't included or accounted for evidence from those sources. Some good points everyone. I might have to rethink parts of the theory. Expect an update to it soon.

In the episode "Second Rennaisance Part 1" of Animatrix (at about 24'50''), you can see machines investigating human bodies including brain. Sending signals to some specific brain cells make man laugh, others make cry, thus machines understand human brain working style. This could help them to create interfaces and even plant microchips to the brain. Perfect method to create puppets.