AUGMENTED REALITY
With augmented reality, the Matrix is not a place you go so much as a parallel digital world (similar to the astral plane) that you experience as an overlay onto your normal range of senses. Your commlink accesses Matrix data from the wireless nets around you, feeding you the results via simsense or any number of interface devices. AR sensory input is specific to each user-while you and your buddy can both access the menu icon "displayed" outside a restaurant, only you will hear the ringtone or feel the slight buzz that signals an incoming call.
In it's most basic form, AR is experienced as visual sight cues, icons known as arrows (AROs, or augmented reality objects). You can see arrows by linking your cybereyes, display link cyberware, smart goggles, display capable contact lenses, or retina writing laser glasses to your commlink. Arrow data appears as ghostly images and text in your field of vision. You can customize your interface to "view" this data any way you like, or to filter out certain content (like visual advert spam). If you accept an incoming video call, for example, the caller's image/icon appears in your center of vision (but transparent so the real world can be seen through it). If someone starts shooting at you, you can put the caller on hold and close the "window" or shift it to your peripheral vision so it doesn't interfere with RL activities.
AR can also be experienced through audible cues, transferred and heard via cyberears, audio link cyberware, earbud headphones, subdermal bone-vibrating speakers, or even tight beam audio broadcasted to the ears from worn goggles or glasses. You can control the volume via mental command or physical interface, and you don't have to worry about snoopers overhearing since it's all in your head.
Advanced AR systems sometimes make use of tactile information-haptics-ralayed through feedback gloves and clothing customized to convey temperature, pressure and resistance. If you want the full AR experience, you can translate AR input into smell and taste sensory data, but the specialized cyberware mods required for this cater to a small (and strange) market.
The easiest and most common way to get your AR fix though, is through simsense. You need a sim module for your commlink to interpret the signals and feed you the data via a cyberware simrig, trode net or datajack. Partial simsense feeds take AR a step further because they can also relay emotions, though services that relay full emotive sim are rare (and sometimes illegal or downright disturbing)-do you really want a Buzz!Blitz energy drink advert to make you feel that way?
Interacting With the Augmented World
Example #1:
Sketchy Alex heads to the mall with her TekSense SP9 music player tucked behind her ear and her Fabrique ALLIN1 commlink in her jacket pocket. The two devices share a pair of headphones and are aware of one another; if the ALLIN1 needs attention, the TekSense SP9 will temporarily mute itself. Her commlink is her PAN's (Personal Area Network) core component and gives her access to basic wireless services. Alex also has a cheap pair of Tandy smartglasses, but no datajack, so she controls the interface with the scroll wheel on her commlink.
As she enters the mall, Alex accesses it's LAN (Local Area Network), superimposing a map of the mall in her vision. She quickly browses the directory and adds the stores she wants to visit to her hotlist, auto-highlighting them in blue on the map. As she enters each store, her commlink displays a list of today's specials(tailored to her personal purchasing profile) and a detailed map. in Trendz Music, she instantly connects to the store's music library, sampling several songs before buying them and downloading them directly to her SP9. As she's purchasing the music, the system lets her know that Ingrid Needstrom - one of the musicians she bought songs from - is playing a gig downtown next week. She calls her friend Rachel via her commlink and to let her know about the concert. Rachel is interested in going, so Alex buys two tickets online (still inside the store) and zaps one of them over to Rachel.
As she's leaving the mall, Alex receives several anonymous text messages from some sleazy guy who read her commlink's social profile and is trying to hit on her. She sets her commlink to block all future messages from that user.
Example #2:
Vladamir is waiting for Mr Johnson to arrive at Club Inferno and lamenting the lack of fun he's likely to have in the meeting. Vlad doesn't want to have to deal with the runner wannabes that frequent the club, so he switches his PAN to hidden mode. To all the other scum in the Inferno, his network is no longer "visible" and automatically refuses connections except from trusted friends on Vlad's buddy list-just the way he wants it. While he waits, he receives a message from Doc Sloth, one of his teammates. Doc has positioned himself on the other side of the bar in a booth so he can astrally scan Mr Johnson as he enters, and his message says that the Johnson has an unusual magical aura. Vlad immediately triggers his wired reflexes on, just in case there's trouble-maybe the night will be fun after all.
Commlinks
Commlinks are the ultimate personal networking tool, used by almost everyone. They are a combination wireless router, cellphone, vidcam, PDA, GPS unit, chip reader, wallet/credstick and mobile gaming device-all in one easy-to-carry package that fits inside a pocket, belt clip or wrist clip. Commlinks come in a dizzying array of shapes, sizes and colors, from stylized headsets or faux jewelry to cranial implants and commlinks woven into the fabric of your jacket.
Commlinks serve as the primary hub for your PAN, allowing you to access and manipulate all of your PAN-connected electronics through your commlink. Need to make a call? Review a video file you took yesterday? Scan the diagnostics on your cyberlimb? Check the fuel on your drone? Program your alarm clock? You can do all of this and more with your commlink.
Commlinks also provide you with instant wireless access to the world around you. Not only can you send messages, make calls, transfer files,or access data via the Matrix, but you can access the wireless devices and networks all around, from the store's sales catalog to your friend's PAN to the lamppost tourist-info RFID tag to the social networking profile of anyone else looking to play a game of chess in the park.
Commlinks carry all of your personal data, replacing the registered credsticks of old. Your ID, SIN (Social Identification Number), licenses, passport, medical history, insurance data, educational diplomas, credit balance, and far more can be securely stored on your commlink and instantly beamed over for transaction purposes-with proper authorization of course.
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