Skyline

Focus

TODO

Assistive Capabilities

Thanks to the neural interface, sensor, augmented reality, and networking functionality of the Focus, it offers a number of assistive options. When the Focus comes online for a person with a disability or persistent medical condition, something extra happens. A number of conditions are detected by the Focus, triggering additional prompts for these options. All of these options are available for curious adventurers, regardless of their conditions.

Blind characters will hear a voice in their ear with a gentle but synthetic tone:

Visual assistance is available. To enable visual assistance, nod twice. To disable this message, shake your head twice.

Deaf characters will see an overlay on their vision, written in a number of cycling languages:

Auditory assistance is available. To enable auditory assistance, nod twice. To disable this message, shake your head twice.

Next to the “enable” line is a small green animated graphic depicting waves morphing into geometric shapes. Next to the “disable” line is a small red X which overlays a similar set of waves, preventing them form morphing into other shapes.

If the person does nothing, these start-up messages will repeat after several seconds until the person removes the Focus or performs one of the specified actions. Regardless of the choice, removing and reattaching the Focus will cause it to re-prompt the wearer — the Focus does not retain the choice after it is removed.

Blind characters who opt to enable visual assistance will find that the Focus interacts directly with their neurons to allow them to see the same augmented reality overlay that sighted people can see, but in a full sphere around them unlike the forward-limited view of a sighted person. The Focus does not present a fully-rendered view of objects in the surrounding world — only low-detail primitives. Surfaces in the room are just basic boxes and planes, with no attempt to show textures, contours, etc. Otherwise, the same AR overlays are available: details on machines, electronic equipment, etc.

This will likely be an overwhelming experience for some characters. Players may choose to roleplay how they adjust, whether they do so quickly or slowly, etc.

Blind characters who opt to disable visual assistance find that their Focus does not make any attempt to provide visual overlay or information. Instead, the Focus will surface the option to speak aloud the information it would normally provide in the overlay, giving appropriate options for making choices and navigating the environment. As the voice relies on the neural interface, it is not heard by anyone other than the character wearing the Focus. Characters who explore this functionality will find that they can control the parameters of the voice, which can emulate a range of tones, accents, and realism.

Deaf characters who opt to enable auditory assistance will find that their Focus does the visual equivalent of the blind assistance: direct neural interaction allows the Focus to emulate sounds inside their brain. This can be tuned to enhance the sounds in the area, like a hearing aid, even if the character has profound hearing loss. It also allows the Focus to speak to them, and pass along any vocal communication which goes through the Focus. Again, the Focus does not actually emit sound like a hearing aid — only the wearer can “hear” it.

Deaf characters who opt to disable auditory assistance will find that the Focus will not attempt to convey virtual sound, but will instead surface a number of enhancements in the visual overlay. Characters may toggle a closed-captioning system for communications which go through the Focus, including when their party uses the Focus to talk to them. Visual indicators including speaker names, direction, distance, etc, can also be toggled. They will also find the ability to toggle a projection of the other Focuses of their party members — a mini-map, which doesn’t include topographical information or other objects, but does show relative positions. It also shows a number of status indicators for those Focuses, such as “speaking”.

Deaf or mute characters will also find that their Focus offers to perform a broadcast translation for their chosen method of communication. That is, as the character signs or otherwise signals or communicates with their party, the Focus will attempt to learn the language. It can then provide other party members with a closed-captioning AR overlay of this translation. The broadcast of this translation is under the control of the deaf or mute character — if they choose to disable it, the other players’ Focuses will not attempt to provide their own translation.

Some additional capabilities relating to medical diagnosis, monitoring, and assistive behavior are described in the IASO Story module. Groups playing characters with persistent medical conditions are encouraged to read through the module, even if they don’t play through it.

It is up to each player to decide how much their characters disclose to their party of these assistive and diagnostic functionalities. Their Focuses will not alert the others to these special modes, nor will they pass along detection of medical conditions.

A Note On Roleplay With Focus Assistance

A common trope in games, including RPGs, is to create areas of the game where the utilities or abilities of the players are disabled or degraded. It’s often a “dead magic zone”, or “high background radiation interfering with sensors”, or something similar. This is often used as an attempt to level the playing field as characters become more skilled and encounters become more epic.

It can be tempting to tell the players that Focuses cease to function in an area. Before doing so, think through what this might mean to characters using the Focus as an assistive device. Be sensitive to how this may affect some characters, and therefore their players, far more than others.

Consider instead something like: “you find that your Focuses still work, but have lost the ability to tell you anything about the area around you”. Anything more invasive than that should prompt a conversation between players about whether they are comfortable with the removal of any assistive capabilities they’ve gotten used to. Some players may find this an interesting challenge, while others may find the very idea distasteful.