Shadowrun
Shadowrun General => Gear => Topic started by: Poindexter on <12-01-14/1808:11>
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Say this is the only gear I've got on me, for simplicity's sake.
I get image link and soundlink from the DNI from the datajack, right?
Can i record video and audio straight onto my commlink, JUST from all that stuff?
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I believe so, as the visual and audio signals are sent straight from your commlink to your brain, and vice versa.
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I tend to see the brain->commlink data as strictly "textual" or at least simple, much like a keyboard/mouse. You can designate concepts and objects by thought without having to be overly descriptive (instead of "that object 2.532 meters away and 1,5 meters high at 230.4 degrees" you can just think "that car" and the DNI "gets it"). So, without a camera or microphone, you can't broadcast what you see or hear.
But, similar to a computer of today, you can receive high fidelity sound and images/video with nothing more than DNI.
At least, that is the way the rules seem to approach it. I personally don't see why if it is tapped into your audio/visual cortex (or auditory/optic nerves) enough to "write" media, it couldn't "read" media even easier. If I were GMing, I'd probably house rule it to work both directions, but RAW it seems your ability to input audio/visual is limited.
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I suspect the 5e cyber goodies book will have a camera and microphone option to do this. However, I personally see nothing in RAW to contradict your theory. I as GM am not going to allow it without more mods (like cyber eyes with vision aug, ears with hearing aug), because having the mods to make vision/hearing better means to me that you get useable recordings. But that's just me.
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Debatable, but I'd say yes.
According to page 439, a simrig can record "experience data (sensory and emotive)", and lists this as its main feature. A direct neural interface on the other hand "connects your brain to electronic devices" (page 222, DNI), so I would personally allow recording of sensory input (sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch) with nothing but a DNI and a connected commlink.
To my mind you wouldn't be able to play that latter recording back in full sim mode, however, as a simrig would definitely be needed for that. I'd also say that the smell, taste, and touch components of a non-sim recording would be of limited usefulness, except perhaps for later analysis or something. No idea how I would rule those, but the sight and sound as interpreted by your brain, sure.
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Unless you have a camera or microphone also (contacts or earbuds work) then you can not record your visual or audio inputs. The DNI alone does not allow you to perceive any audio/visual data on the commlink without a sound link or image link. The DNI will allow you to control the commlink and send messages, surf the Matrix, etc. But without those image- and sound-links, the input you get would be only on the commlink's screen and speakers.
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But without those image- and sound-links, the input you get would be only on the commlink's screen and speakers.
I think the rules state that you can experience audio/video AROs with your commlink and DNI without other gear.
A direct neural interface, or DNI, connects your brain to
electronic devices. Direct neural interface (along with a sim
module) is required for VR use, but DNI is also useful for AR
in that you don’t need any additional gear like earbuds or an
image link to see or hear augmented reality objects.
With that said, I am of the opinion that you would need recording devices or a simrig if you wanted to record what you see, hear, feel, etc. Otherwise, you need to use the mic and camera on the commlink (or another external accessory like a camera and/or microphone)
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I get image link and soundlink from the DNI from the datajack, right?
Yes. You get "super" AR.
If your commink is modded with a sim-module you can also enter VR.
Can i record video and audio straight onto my commlink, JUST from all that stuff?
No
Well... Yes, you can use the camera and microphone in your commlink (but i don't think that is what you meant).
You need a digital recording device (camera, microphone etc) if you want to record video and audio.
You need a simrig (plus DNI and and a sim-module) if you want to record your entire "experience".
You can't record what your "eyes" see unless you have a camera in your eyes (cybereyes come with that as default).
You can't record what your "ears" hear unless you have some sort of microphone (cyberears come with that as default).
The information you get from your DNI is limited to "matrix stuff. Mostly AROs.... but also video feeds of your team mates that have cameras in their wireless smartguns, imaging scopes, drones, helmets etc. Augmented Reality does not replace normal (non matrix) eye sight and hearing, it just augment it with matrix input from nearby devices and matrix in general. If you close your eyes your DNI will still feed the surrounding matrix AROs directly to your brain. You can't record your "normal" eye-sight unless you feed it into the matrix... via a [wireless] camera.
SR5 p. 242 Send Message
You can also use this action to open a live feed to one or more recipients, using any digital recording devices you have.
SR5 p. 439 Simrig
This simsense recorder can record experience data (sensory and emotive) from you or whoever is wearing it... You’ll need to have a working sim module (with the DNI interface) to make a recording.
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Experience AR: Yes.
Record your sensory information: No.
You need a simrig to do that.
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so, lets add a pair of contacts with smartlink in to the mix.
Smartlink has to have a camera in it, right?
what about now?
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so, lets add a pair of contacts with smartlink in to the mix.
Smartlink has to have a camera in it, right?
what about now?
Smartgun systems have a camera in them (or, more accurately, include a camera). Those go in/on your gun, not your contacts. Smartlinks process the data from your smartgun system and display it in a series of AROs
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Ahhh, right right. I forgot that line about DNI giving you all the benefits of AR. As to the contacts with the smartlink - as Kincaid pointed out the smartlink itself doesn't have a camera. It's a system of broadcasting AROs and interpreting the data from the smartgun's camera (which is on the gun).
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It is possible to have a micro-camera in a pair of contacts though, so that would work, assuming you put the camera in there.
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Smartlink has to have a camera in it, right?
No, smartguns come with a camera.
Micro-cameras come with a camera.
Cameras come with a camera.
Cybereyes come with a camera.
Commlink come with a camera.
Imaging Scope come with camera.
You can add a camera sensor function in a hand-held or wall-mounted sensor housing.
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Would an imaging device really not count as a video recording device?
A camera is an imaging device, just like contacts, glasses, and goggles. I'd say all of the imaging devices on page 443 should be capable of being used to capture image and video. The camera likely has on-board storage and a microphone, but all of them are able to process video somehow (related to their effects on magic, and the differentiation between optical and digital vision devices).
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By that logic, Herr Brackhaus, your TV should be able to record your every move. Devices that display data do not automatically accept input data as well. Your computer monitor, for example, has to be a specific type of monitor to support touch-interfacing, and it requires a separate camera to be built in in order to have a webcam by default. The monitor itself simply outputs data. Same with the contacts, glasses, and goggles of the Sixth World.
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Fair enough, Namikaze. I'm going by the fact that the devices on page 443 and 444 are specifically called optical and imaging devices, and not display devices.
I'd also like to point out that more and more display tech these days contain input options as well as an output; tablets, phones, even consoles come with cameras, and certainly a lot of laptops have them as options. While a modern display device like a TV or a pair of glasses doesn't have a camera in them, we're seeing the evolution of tech in modern times with google glass and xbox... whatever that thing is called that adds a camera to the xbox...
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yeah, logic dictates that to see in thermo for example, your glasses would need a thermo capable camera built into them.
rules aren't perfectly clear on how this works though, and the mind boggles as to how you make contact lenses with this functionality plus a battery in it and make them see-through enough so that you dont just walk blindly into stuff.
usual advice applies, check with the GM on how this stuff works in his game before you need it.
By RAW, you can't actually build a camera into your google glass headset in-game; they have capacity but the specifics say this is only for vision enhancements.
when google glass has a camera built in under todays tech, this seems daft.
likewise you can't build a mic into your headphones/earbuds, even though i have a bluetooth headset from an old phone that has exactly this built in.
like i say, just have the "common sense" chat with the GM and if you are the GM, just apply common sense.
Quite how your audio enhancing headphones are supposed to enhance sound they can't hear (if there isnt a mic built in) is beyond me!
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"digital recording devices" is not really the same as "[digital] imaging devices"
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I've always maintained that the eyewear is made of a transparent lens, similar to glasses and contacts of today. So, you can use your native vision to see through them without penalty. It is transparent to all metahuman visible wavelengths (thermo, low-light, and normal vision). This is completely passive.
On top of this is placed a projection surface - possibly holographic in nature and projected outside the device or simply a slightly reflective surface so that an image is projected on the device. However it is achieved, it does not interfere with the transparent properties of the lens. If you then add imagelink, it can display images from external devices, otherwise it only displays overlays from the vision enhancements that are integrated into that device.
So, if you have contacts with thermo, you can see using your normal vision (and low-light if you have it, and thermo if you have it, but why do your contacts have it in that case?) and the thermo from the contacts is optionally overlaid on the "screen". You cannot overlay AR or info from team-mates or other sensors since the contacts do not have the image link accessory.
Technically, I think that if you have DNI, image link is not necessary as it allows you to see AR (which includes things like sensor overlays) without additional hardware. But that depends on how particular your GM is.
ETA: some minor edits for clarity
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Fair enough, Namikaze. I'm going by the fact that the devices on page 443 and 444 are specifically called optical and imaging devices, and not display devices.
I'd also like to point out that more and more display tech these days contain input options as well as an output; tablets, phones, even consoles come with cameras, and certainly a lot of laptops have them as options. While a modern display device like a TV or a pair of glasses doesn't have a camera in them, we're seeing the evolution of tech in modern times with google glass and xbox... whatever that thing is called that adds a camera to the xbox...
Yes, but those input options, cameras and microphones for instance, are built into devices that are substantially more complicated than a pair of contacts. Contacts are not too different from the contacts of today - they're clear, plastic (in almost all cases) and thin. There is work being done right now that will allow contact lenses to act as display devices for electronic data as well. But a camera is something altogether different. Putting a camera in a fictional piece of eyewear seems reasonable enough, but that's where Capacity comes into play. Cameras and microphones are two types of sensors, and sensors take up Capacity in whatever device houses them.
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I don't know; SR5 contacts are wireless. That's pretty advanced to my mind.
Regardless, I've said my piece. I personally don't think RAW is conclusive, and if this discussion is any indication the adage of asking ones GM seems apt.