Pseudo-Reality Computer
At TL-15, computer technology results in pseudo-reality communications.
In this system, an individual's opinions, information, and orders are transferred to a computer program designed to imitate him. This allows a form of communications which lets the individual "be" in any location without actually going there.
Description
Pseudo-reality communications take the form of a life-sized, computer-generated holographic image which behaves and communicates in the same manner as its sender. At TL15, it is programmed in only a single area of discussion, such as the commissioning of a specific starship design, through the use of extensive questioning and reaction analysis.
A specific program is required for this (5 spaces, Cr 20 000), and the computer must be linked to a pocket Medical Scanner (for reading the subject's reactions to various questions), a voder, and a holocamera. The questioning takes ten to sixty minutes, depending on the complexity of the topic. The final result is a 0.1 data space program which can be run on any computer with an active pseudo-reality (PR) recorder program. The computer then extrapolates from the acquired data and simulates the individual's behaviour. For all intents and purposes it is as though the subject were actually present.
Most Type A starports on X-boat routes have pseudo-reality facilities, with message costs, double that for X-boat messages. At TL 16, neural probes allow the direct copying of an individual's behaviour and memory patterns. Such data programs can behave exactly as the original in all areas, and take up three program spaces.
References & Contributors
- Third Imperium Fanzine (Issue 11)
- Author: Mike Jackson