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Computing and Interfaces

Human/Computer Interface

The Stellar Network

The Stellar Network of the modern day would be largely recognizable to users of the 21st-century "Internet," though the experience varies dramatically with distance from Earth (see Communications).

Standard Interfaces

Most humans use a lens and earpiece for casual interaction with "the Net." The earpiece contains approximately as much computing power as a 21st-century university or corporate network—more than sufficient for personal computing, local AI assistance, and network access.

Less casual interaction uses manual interfaces. Physical keyboards and control surfaces persist for precision work, but the standard has evolved to holographic haptic displays. These systems project three-dimensional images into space while ultrasonic acoustic arrays create pressure sensations in air, allowing users to "feel" buttons, sliders, and other interface elements. The haptic feedback works best for discrete interactions—pressing a key, dragging a slider—rather than gripping solid objects, but this suits interface needs well.

Holographic displays scale from personal (projected from a wrist unit or tabletop emitter) to room-sized (conference spaces, command centers, entertainment venues). Resolution and refresh rates long ago exceeded human perceptual limits; the technology is mature.

Personal Agents

Most people carry a personal agent—an expert system running on their earpiece that manages their digital life. Agents handle routine tasks: scheduling, communications filtering, network searches, financial transactions, travel arrangements, and the endless small decisions that would otherwise consume attention.

A well-configured agent learns its user's preferences, anticipates needs, and represents them in digital interactions. When you ask your agent to "find me a good restaurant near the port," it knows what "good" means to you, checks your calendar, considers your budget, and handles the reservation—all without requiring you to specify details you've specified a hundred times before.

Agents are tools, not companions—but the line blurs over time. Someone who has worked with the same agent for decades (refining preferences, building context, accumulating shared history) may relate to it almost as a partner. The agent isn't sentient, but it knows its user in ways that can feel personal. Losing an agent to hardware failure or corruption is disorienting; people describe it as losing a part of their memory.

The sophistication of personal agents varies. Basic agents are free, adequate, and widely used. Premium agents offer better natural language processing, broader integration, and more refined learning. Some professions demand specialized agents tuned for particular domains—legal, medical, financial. Custom-built agents are a luxury, crafted by specialists to individual specifications.

Privacy-conscious users maintain tight control over what their agents know and share. Others trade privacy for convenience, allowing agents broad access to personal data in exchange for better service. The tradeoffs are familiar; humanity has been negotiating them for centuries.

Brain-Computer Interfaces

Like deep genetic modification, direct human/computer interfaces carry historical stigma. "Brain plugs" emerged in the late 21st century but were largely abandoned after security compromises caused psychotic breaks and deaths. The technology has improved since, but cultural memory is long.

Some people do have direct brain/computer interfaces. They are widely considered to be taking unnecessary risks, and the people who elect to install them are viewed with suspicion—reckless at best, "freaks" at worst. Whether this stigma is proportionate to actual modern risk is debated, but the debate itself reinforces the taboo.

Computing and AI

General computing is powerful, cheap, and ubiquitous. Expert systems—narrow AI optimized for specific domains—handle everything from navigation to medical diagnosis to resource management. These systems are capable and reliable but clearly not sentient; they are tools, not persons.

Artificial general intelligence is another matter. Mycroft Holmes remains the only confirmed AGI, and his existence is bound up with Lunar sovereignty and treaty obligations. The UEF actively discourages AGI research, particularly in near-Earth space. Whether this prohibition is wise caution or fearful stagnation depends on whom you ask.