| From: | Richard Pieri <ratinox@***.NORTHEASTERN.EDU> |
|---|---|
| Subject: | Re: rigs |
| Date: | Thu, 20 May 1993 14:25:39 EDT |
Shade> Thats my problem. If a jack is a direct neural interface with i/o
Shade> ability then neither riggers nor deckers need more. If a jack is
Shade> merely a input mechanism - one that only allows viewing, then why
Shade> stick metal in your head - surely by 2054 VR goggles would be fast
Shade> and vivid enough to perform the same function. Moreover, there is
Shade> no need to implant a rig in someones body if he still has to go
Shade> through the physical acts of piloting. And if a rigger controls a
Shade> vehicle by just thinking about it (by simulating in his mind the act
Shade> of physically pilotin g) then again a i/o brain jack should do.
Let's put it this way:
A Decker controls the Matrix through his mind; there is no external stimuli
to cause voluntary or reflexive actions, so they can be shut off or
bypassed entirely (one of the functions of a cyberdeck). Since the body is
no longer recieving external stimuli, all the deck has to do is interpret
neural activity and respond appropriately.
Now a Rigger can't be isolated in this way; there's too much going on in
the real world to rely totally on mechanical sensors, which means you can't
shut out external stimuli. Now, since you can't shut the body down, you
can't eliminate reflexive actions. So you might as well take advantage of
them and "hotwire" them into the control of the vehicle. And that's what a
VCR does. As for virtual reality, all that's virtual from the Rigger's
perspective is the vehicle's controls superimposed on his vision. So, let's
take a Rigger, and let's put him in a fighter cockpit, for example. One of
the indicators on the virtual panel starts "flashing" that someone has a
radar lock on him. Reflex: hit the button to release chaff. What the VCR
does is intercept that neural signal to the arm, translates it
appropriately, transmits the instructions to the vehicle, and a chaff pod
is released in around 1/100th the time it would take for the Rigger's arm
to have done the same thing.
--Rat PGP Public Key Block available upon finger
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Northeastern's Stainless Steel Rat ratinox@******.coe.northeastern.edu
When I want your opinions I'll give them to you.
--Mok, from the movie Rock & Rule
