comStar Firewall alert - PhaseThrough

playback gear
On the most basic level, all that is necessary to play back an
ASIST file is a sim module (p. 214, SR4). Since a sim module is
a common option for commlinks, nearly everyone can play back
ASIST on their commlink. However, commlinks are the Swiss
Army knives of the wireless Matrix and while they can convert
ASIST into acceptable play back experiences, the ASIST processors
in their sim modules are geared more towards interpreting
virtual reality pseudosim and augmented reality SAS format
ASIST. If you want the best quality when you play back your ACT
format simflick release, you really want a simdeck.
Simdecks are set-top boxes with high-end ASIST processors
designed for simflick playback and pseudosim game rendering.
Even a neophyte sim user can tell the difference between a simflick
experienced on a commlink and one experienced on a simdeck.
The experience is more real. They are also far superior for processing
the computer-generated pseudosim used in many sim-games,
making them the gaming consoles of choice. Even though a commlink
can handle multiple simultaneous POVs through multiple
subscriptions, the dedicated simulPOV ports on a simdeck make
for a far more enriching experience.
A sim module or simdeck translates the computer data into
precise locations and amounts of electrical and ultrasound signal
to be applied to the brain (and vice versa), but you still need a
piece to do the actual application, either trodes or a direct neural
interface. Any simfreak will tell you that DNI is the way to go,
because the electrodes and ultrasound emitters are inside the brain
and the signals aren’t weakened by the skull the way trode signals
are. The same simfreak will also tell you that if you don’t have DNI,
you’re better off with standard trodes than nanopaste trodes. Sure,
nanopaste trodes will get the job done, but the signal application
is less precise (depending on how well you apply the nanopaste)
and the signals tend to be weaker. The rule of thumb is: the less
resistance between the emitter and the brain and the more precise
the signal can be targeted at specific regions of the brain, the more
real the simsense experience.
Speaking of trodes, it used to be that a trode net was an
ugly hairnet-like collection of electrodes and ultrasound emitters
that users would try to conceal under headbands, hats, or wigs.
While those trode nets do still exist, Renraku’s DreamBand and
Horizon’s E-piphany trodes have made trode-wearing stylish.
These trodes use the latest technology to conceal all the electrodes
and ultrasound emitters in a stylish band that hooks over
the ears and wraps around the back of the head. Still not as pure
a signal resolution as DNI, but at least now you don’t have to get
brain surgery or look like a McHugh’s cook to enjoy your sims.
LegaL conStraintS:
reaLer tHan reaL
ASIST is a revolutionary technology, and like most other
revolutionary technologies it hit the market before the risks could
be entirely considered. By the time the risk had been considered,
ASIST was such a hit that users didn’t really care about the possible
dangers. Worse yet, corporate deregulation had put much of
the research into the risk of ASIST into the hands of the same
corporations that sell it. It should be no surprise that this research
backs the attitude that simsense is entirely safe if used as directed.
Unwired
Hooked on SiMSenSe
The dangers of better-than-life addiction have long been
known, but there are those who claim that even “safe” levels of
simsense are addictive and dangerous. Since the early 2040s there
have calls for the regulation of simsense, claiming that frequent
users of simsense become withdrawn from the real world. A handful
of nations prohibit the sale of simsense to minors, but these are
mostly nations where simsense technology is uncommon to begin
with and not the media-saturated first world nations. There are
also some companies that sell software that allows parents to restrict
the amount of simsense their children can watch, but adults
have no such restrictions.
There are endless corporate-backed research studies that
“prove” that the simsense that is legally and commercially available
is completely safe. But observation does show that many frequent
simsense users do become withdrawn from reality. Some critics
argue that even safe simsense invokes the pleasure centers of the
brain in the same ways that drugs and alcohol do and therefore can
become addictive. Supporters of the technology do not entirely
refute this claim, but frequently remind people that chocolate and
sex also affect the pleasure center of the brain and yet neither one
of those is regulated.
Regardless of where the reality of the addiction argument
falls, one thing is for certain. Simsense allows one to enjoy a crafted
reality that is as real to them as the real world is, but usually doesn’t
include the shit that the real world loves to heap on us. That’s a
convincing enough reason for a frequent simsense user to become
withdrawn from the real world.
SUBLiMinaLS
Once upon a time, there was a debate about subliminal
advertising, where frames depicting something would be flashed
quickly in a video stream. The idea was that it happened so fast
that the viewer would not consciously notice it, but that the brain
would process the frames anyway. Scheming advertisers thought
that maybe the brain could be fooled without the viewer’s knowledge
and that the brain would remember the frame and shape
the viewer’s future thoughts. Research concluded, however, that
the influence of these subliminal frames was minimal, that they
happened so quickly and the brain processed them to such a limited
extent that they were quickly forgotten and had no lasting
persuasive effect.
Simsense offers a new approach to subliminals, though. With
simsense, sensory tracks can be matched up with emotive tracks that
normally have no realistic association to the sensory information
being experienced. Associative conditioning like this has been used
for ages; the old adage “sex sells” describes how advertisers used
sexual imagery to condition you to associate their product with
sexual attraction and arousal. But those advertisers depended on you
to make the association. Simsense rams the association straight into
your brain without any conscious thought necessary.
Let’s say Aztechnology wants to sell some NukIt burgers.
They start running some augmented reality advertising that when
experienced with simsense allows you to smell and taste a delicious
NukIt burger, even feel the warmth radiating from it. But
Aztechnology wants to make you desire a NukIt burger more than
any other burger, so they layer emotive tracks that make you feel
Simon Wentworth (order #1132857) 9
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siMsense and skillware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .