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[6e] Communicating Silently

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ammulder

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« on: <05-23-21/0919:57> »
So I mentioned on another thread that a bored guard was talking on his commlink (as if on a cell phone today) and someone said more or less doesn't everyone do that via DNI?

It also comes up all the time that a team wants to communicate non-obviously or silently during a run.  Some people seem to allow a group commlink call, some people seem to use microtransceivers, but the main question to me is how does one speak?  There's the subvocal mic, of course.  Does everybody need one?  There's implanted stuff or trodes for DNI... but can you "speak" over that?  Or are all runners so adept with DNI text messaging that voice is redundant?

The one factor I find a bit confounding is the Matrix FAQ saying a Cyberjack could do everything a Commlink can do except for voice.  That suggests to me that you can't "speak" via DNI, but also that "speaking" is still a thing.

I guess in practical terms, there are two main party-comm situations:
  • One PC comes across information that is not immediately obvious to others and wants to share with the group without saying anything out loud.  It might be something gathered in the Matrix or Astrally, or the one PC is in a different location than the rest.  Often there's some NPC you don't want to speak in front of ("he's lying!") or you don't want to generally make a bunch of noise ("psst!  The patrolling guard is coming!").
  • One PC is speaking to an NPC (negotiating, interrogating, conning, whatever) but a different player has advice or ideas for what to say.  Normally that player just says whatever they mean to share out loud at the table.  It's much nicer to believe that it could have been conveyed in character, than to try to prevent the sharing in the first place or to make the player of the speaking PC pretend they didn't hear whatever the other player advised.

So I'd like for the group comm to be there.  It seems clear you can share data wirelessly to anyone with DNI or an Image Link (e.g. a feed from a smartgun camera), but for person to person communication: Do I say "everyone got your subvocal mic and earbuds/sound link?" or "everyone wearing your trodes?" or what?  Would one of these be more limiting than another?

But there's also the issue of overhearing adversary conversations that take place on a commlink or walkie-talkie/micro-transceiver.  Must that strictly be done via Matrix hacking?  Or could listening devices/clairaudience work?  How do normal guards or scientists or whatever carry on these conversations?  Because DNI seems incompatible with voice, and voice seems both more personal and more corporate-professional than text messaging, I assume it would mainly be via speaking out loud, unless the guards are security-professional enough to use subvocal mics themselves.

Finally, as this probably reveals, I'm not completely clear on what DNI does or doesn't involve, and whether Sim is required for any of these scenarios.  If DNI can turn data into brain signals and vice versa, I would have expected trodes to effectively include an image link and sound link and subvocal mic and AR gloves.  I mean, can't the trodes read your speaking muscle activation intent and turn that into outgoing voice data?  Can't it take voice data and turn that into stimulating the same brain center that processes biological data from your ears, so you "hear" it just the same (and likewise "see" and "feel" incoming data)?  Maybe this would require a cold sim module add-on for your commlink?  (Though, a datajack doesn't require a sim add-on for private mental communication.)  I'm just stymied by the Cyberjack providing full advanced DNI, and (because it acts like a datajack) allowing private mental communication, but per the FAQ not allowing voice communication "because it lacks audio output."  Or is that meant to mean you can have a voice-conversation-in-your-head via DNI and/or Sim but just can't put the Cyberjack on speakerphone?
« Last Edit: <05-23-21/0923:28> by ammulder »

Banshee

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« Reply #1 on: <05-23-21/0952:14> »
So, with the way I wrote things it's important to distinguish there is a difference between communication and speaking.
DNI is not telepathy so does not allow vocal communication.
So a cyberjack does not allow speaking... it would though allow communication via text which when using a DNI would be just as silent and fast as if it was a vocal communication just without the voice part.
Robert "Banshee" Volbrecht
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ammulder

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« Reply #2 on: <05-23-21/1025:43> »
DNI is not telepathy so does not allow vocal communication.

Given that "DNI is not telepathy", can you help me understand the practical difference between telepathy and the following combined with wireless:

"Two datajack users can string a fiberoptic cable between themselves to conduct a private mental communication immune to radio interception or eavesdropping." (p. 283)

Banshee

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« Reply #3 on: <05-23-21/1050:09> »
DNI is not telepathy so does not allow vocal communication.

Given that "DNI is not telepathy", can you help me understand the practical difference between telepathy and the following combined with wireless:

"Two datajack users can string a fiberoptic cable between themselves to conduct a private mental communication immune to radio interception or eavesdropping." (p. 283)

Easy, you are essentially exchanging super fast text-to-talk type messages. It is still private and silent ... but it is not vocal.
As is I said previously there is a difference between communication and vocal. Specifically that vocal is a form of communication but not all communication is vocal. So while it may transact in such a way that most people would assume is identical to talking it isn't. You would be going all of the "normal" information but none of the subtleties of things I've inflection and tone.
Robert "Banshee" Volbrecht
Freelancer & FAQ Committee member
Former RPG Lead Agent
Catalyst Demo Team

ammulder

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« Reply #4 on: <05-23-21/1118:30> »
OK, I do not see that in the text but I accept that is the intent.

What are the things you could add if you wanted to send and receive voice/inflection/etc. in addition to text?  Subvocal mic?  Trodes?  Cold sim?  Simrig?  Audio link?  Micro transceiver?  Something else?

Xenon

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« Reply #5 on: <05-23-21/1131:44> »
So I mentioned on another thread that a bored guard was talking on his commlink (as if on a cell phone today) and someone said more or less doesn't everyone do that via DNI?
That was probably me :-)

We seem to have quite a lot to unpack here so let us get started....


It also comes up all the time that a team wants to communicate non-obviously or silently during a run.
Being connected to the matrix, having access to DNI and take the Send Message matrix action allows you to communicate a paragraph worth of text to someone. Combine that with the fact that even the most basic commlink comes pre-installed with text-to-speech and speech-to-text tech and you can silently communicate quite well within the team.

To just listen to what someone else is saying you either listen to the built in speakers of your commlink or via wireless enabled ear buds (like how people interact with smartphones back in 2021) - or get the sound projected directly into your brain by using DNI to your commlink. No need for additional items such as earbuds and image links if you have DNI.

If you have some sort of recording device (both your smartgun and your cybereyes come with a camera) then you can share whatever is in the line of sight with the rest of your team. In real time. If you have a mic then you can share that audio with the rest of your team. In real time.

Other alternatives include using a subvocal microphone (kinda like what SWAT used back in 2021). This typically require that you whisper (so not completely silent, but close).

If you have line if sight then you can also use hand signals.

You can also string two datajacks together which let you conduct a mental conversation between two parties without risk of hacking or eavesdropping.



It might be something gathered in the Matrix or Astrally, or the one PC is in a different location than the rest. 
Everyone is on the matrix at all times. Send Message works just as well from AR as it does from VR. This is default I would say. Trying to communicate while in full VR with someone that is not even connected to the matrix (that street shaman in your team that doesn't even own a commlink) will be tricky though....

While using astral projection your options are more limited. You can move at speed of thought and then take an action to manifest (not materialize) which let you appear as an intangible physic image (a ghost) on the physical plane. This let you 'talk' to subjects on the physical plane (even though you are not really there - technological equipment such as a camera or audio recording device will not pick up any imagery or sound).



Do I say "everyone got your subvocal mic and earbuds/sound link?" or "everyone wearing your trodes?" or what?
There are basically 3 ways you can interact with your commlink.
  • Physically looking at your commlink's screen while you hold it in front of you, listening to its built in speaker and physically touch its buttons and touch screen (similar to how people used their smartphones to play Pokemon Go and other AR games back in 2021).
  • Viewing AR via a digital display in front of your eyes (contacts, glasses, goggles) or cybereyes, listening via soundlink from wearing wireless earbuds or having cyberears and interacting with objects by wearing an AR glove. All while your commlink is in your back pocket. This is perhaps how you would interact with the matrix some years ago (think sci fi movies such as minority report or johnny mnemonic).
  • Directly interact with the matrix through your commlink by direct neural interface (linking your brains directly to your commlink). Images and sound being projected into your brain. Sending mental commands from your brains directly to the commlink. This is how most people would interact with the matrix in current editions of Shadowrun. If the commlink also have a SIM module you would also feel, smell and taste the matrix (and having both DNI and access to a SIM module are also required for full VR).



But there's also the issue of overhearing adversary conversations that take place on a commlink or walkie-talkie/micro-transceiver.  Must that strictly be done via Matrix hacking?  Or could listening devices/clairaudience work? 
Hacking their network and then snoop on all their communications is probably the default method here (think of any episode of Mission Impossible and how their hacker would typically gain access to their network and then snoop on all coms and video feeds).

Clairaudience basically only work within a 'bubble' (it doesn't pick up sounds that originate from outside the area of effect even if within the same room as your clariaudience 'bubble') and it doesn't pick up text or audio messages that are not being spoken out loud (maybe because they were being silently transmitted through the matrix). But if you make sure you move your 'bubble' to a subject that is verbally talking in their commlink then you would hear what he is saying as if you were standing next to him. Hearing what someone is whispering in a sub-vocal microphone is doable, but typically require a test.



I'm not completely clear on what DNI does or doesn't involve, and whether Sim is required for any of these scenarios.  If DNI can turn data into brain signals and vice versa, I would have expected trodes to effectively include an image link and sound link and subvocal mic and AR gloves.
If you have DNI then you don't need image link or sound link to see and hear the matrix. You can also don't need AR gloves since you can now send mental commands instead. No need for a SIM module for this.

If you also have a SIM module then you not only see and hear the matrix, you also feel, smell and taste it.

For VR you always need both DNI and SIM module



I mean, can't the trodes read your speaking muscle activation intent and turn that into outgoing voice data?
Yes, if you have DNI then you can send longer and more complicated
messages, about a paragraph worth of text, with just a single Minor Action.

But you will not send it in the form of your 'actual voice'. To do that you need to actually speak into a physical microphone.



Can't it take voice data and turn that into stimulating the same brain center that processes biological data from your ears, so you "hear" it just the same (and likewise "see" and "feel" incoming data)?
If you have a DNI then your brains can interface directly with your commlink and you no longer need image link (contacts, glasses, goggles or implanted cybereyes) to watch an incoming video, watch a photo or see augmented reality. You also don't need a sound link (listen to a speaker, wearing ear buds or having implanted cyberears) to listen to an audio recording, if someone is calling you and using their actual voice to talk to you or to hear augmented reality.



Maybe this would require a cold sim module add-on for your commlink?
SIM module is not needed to see and hear.
But if you have both DNI and SIM module then you get access to "super AR" that also let you feel, smell and taste. Both DNI and SIM module are required if you want to experience VR.
« Last Edit: <05-23-21/1133:33> by Xenon »

Xenon

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« Reply #6 on: <05-23-21/1153:10> »
"Two datajack users can string a fiberoptic cable between themselves to conduct a private mental communication immune to radio interception or eavesdropping." (p. 283)
You are communicating mentally, not vocally. You are not using your 'actual voice' and the recipient is not hearing your 'actual voice'.


What are the things you could add if you wanted to send and receive voice
To receive voice you can either listen to the sound from a device. For example the built in speaker of your commlink, wireless enabled earbuds or by simply having cyberears. Or by having access to DNI.

To transmit your 'actual voice' as your 'actual voice' you need to speak with your 'actual voice' into a physical microphone (typically an omnidirectional mic like the one you have in your commlink).



But you can also transmit the same thing as text. Either by speaking to your commlink and have your commlink use its speech-to-text tech to convert it into text. Or typing it directly on your commlink like people used to do back in 2021 or by using an AR glove to virtually type it without physically touching your commlink. Or send it as mental commands to your commlink via DNI (which let you compose a lot more text in a very short time).

And the recipient can choose to either read it by looking at their commlink's screen or an a screen in front of their eyes (such as contacts, glasses or goggles) or directly into their cybereyes or have it directly being projected into their brains with the use of DNI.

Or their commlink can transform it with text-to-speech tech into audible sound that he can either listen to via built in speakers of his commlink, by wearing earbuds or having cyberears or by having DNI (but text-to-speech will probably not sound like the the 'actual voice' of the caller).