Virtual Tomorrow is a Talkbright-owned periodical content distributor that focuses on the ongoing development of Virtuals in gaming, productivity, and computer interfacing.
NeuroCom is an industry standard protocol set for providing neural stimulation in order to more directly interface user and computer. The effects are fundamental to how Virtuals operate, as well as some types of Augment (augmented reality interfaces), and more general-purpose MMI (man-machine interface) connections. While practically anyone can use neural induction equipment without complicated and dangerous surgeries, direct neural input cyberware is known to have much faster response rates and potentially allow for greater levels of synchronization with non-organic hardware.
Virtuals are elaborate data constructs that a user can interact with as total replacements for their sensory environment. Depending on the level of reality desired, all of the user's senses may be engaged in the simulation, and they may be used to simulate any environment from enjoying a day at the beach to working in the depths of space. From a gaming perspective, many Virtuals give the user the opportunity to portray a character that exists within the Virtual world, and experience things as that character would, and take actions as available to the character.
For mental and physical safety, most consumer-level neural induction systems have multiple levels of safety protocol at work:
Typically, those interfacing with a Virtual also have a neural interrupt to make sure that their real-world body does not attempt to replicate actions taken in the Virtual world by their Virtual avatar; however, some designs allow people to split controls, allowing them to potentially operate both their real-world body and one or multiple Virtual avatars, or even to control multiple real-world machines or MMI-enabled bioconstructs. This has become a practical force multiplier in security and military settings; robots, bioroids, or others with MMI uplinks can be remotely operated using the same basic control system used to operate within a Virtual environment, and vice versa.
Emergency Safety Protocols are hardwired safeties built into most commercial neural induction equipment in order to protect the life and health of the user. Corporate and military-grade variants typically remove some or all of these safety procedures with the understanding that the survivability of the user may be of lower priority than maximized response speed, as many of these safeties limit the speed of the system as a secondary effect.
Many neural induction setups include basic biomonitoring equipment, allowing them to detect dangerous situations and disconnect the user. Any biomonitor-based system is designed to fail-safe in that if it fails to receive acceptable input, or if the biomonitor fails to respond properly, it will assume the worst and disconnect the user.
While some people strongly despise these systems and worry that it lets people read their thoughts, this is actually mostly just intended to determine whether the brainwaves of the subject are within intended parameters. Strongly aberrant patterns are assumed to be a sign of imminent overload, and as such can be used to force a disconnect.
This is another basic protection against neural burnout; a device that measures the inbound signals generated by the connected device that is designed to disconnect instead of transmitting if they are too high, to protect against hazards borne by faulty programming or intentional malice.