This concept was first explored in several novels, comics, and of course finally the movies, with The Matrix (1999) being the pinnacle of movies that have virtual reality as their theme. It is not surprising that one of the most influential writers of the science fiction genre of the 20th century, Philip K. Dick, was a precursor in his literary works of this subgenre within science fiction, with a couple of film hits based on his novels. , the 1982 cult film BLADE RUNNER, and TOTAL RECALL, directed by Paul Verhoeven.