“Ok, Miguel. We’ll get started in just a moment.”
Miguel watched the technician as he started to turn on monitoring equipment behind the 2-way glass. Another lab-coated tech was organizing items on a tray next to the surprisingly plush lounge chair they had him sitting in.
“Can you turn your head away, Miguel?” She had finished placing items on the tray and was holding an orange-colored swab in her gloved hand. It was cool as she swabbed the prominence on his skull just behind the lower portion of his ear. That swab went into a small metal bowl on the tray and the tech repeated the process with another swab. A third swab was white; this one was warmer, but also a little more damp. A small drop trickled as it rolled down the curve of his head and midway down his neck. The tech dried that off with a soft cloth, then used one final swab to apply a thin gel layer.
“You can relax for a moment as we let that sit before we apply your dot," the tech said as she removed the metal bowl with its discarded swabs as well as their wrappers. That left only a small, 1-inch square of clear plastic with a translucent dot in its center and a pair of tweezers with rubberized tips set off on the far side of the tray. As she came back, she placed a cup of water and a sandwich in the center of the tray.
“Please take the aspirin and some water in front of you. The calibration is going to likely be a boring few hours. Feel free to eat and drink as you need. Any questions before you’re dotted?”
“I was under the impression this is supposed to be accessible to everyone. Seems a pretty elaborate set up if anyone can use it.”
Dr. Banerjee smiled, “It’ll be simpler when we go to full rollout. As we’re testing, we want to make sure the connection is as secure and comfortable as we can. The dot itself is air and water permeable, and the attachment gel is hypoallergenic. Body oils, perspiration and such shouldn’t interfere with sealing and connecting the dot, but it’s much easier at this stage to take some extra measures to ensure a good connection.”
“This super-comfy lounge chair is different than any medical office I’ve ever been in. Nice, but again seems like overkill for something everyone is supposed to be able to use.”
Dr. Bob spoke up then, “You’ll appreciate that as part of the testing setup. We’re using that chair based on experiences with full-immersion VR pods. Our protocol calls for you to be in preset scenarios for extended periods of time. One of our goals with your participation and others like you at this stage is to optimize the calibration process so that when we get to the general rollout, the dot can be applied and calibrated in a couple of minutes.”
“This building and room as well are specifically shielded against extraneous EM interference to make the testing process smoother. At this stage, each test is also isolated from all the others. Even so, you’ll be able to meet some in your cohort and join them for dinner this evening when we’re done with today’s round of testing.
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“All set here, Anita. You can dot him whenever he’s ready.”
“Final details: Dr. Bob and I are your tech and medical leads respectively. With our testing schedule, other techs will sometimes be with you, but most of your attended time will be with us. So please call me Anita and him Rob. Yes, his parents are weird.”
“Heh,” Dr. Bob grunted.
“Once I attach the dot, you’ll feel a small pulse and perhaps a little warmth. That’s normal and to be expected. I’ll be monitoring to make sure your vitals all remain in normal range. Especially in the initial phase, your head and neck may feel warm. This should subside as we get deeper into the calibration. For now though, the aspirin will serve as a simple prophylactic measure. If you feel feverish or nauseous, please let us know.”
Dr. Banerjee peeled the dot off its plastic backing with the tweezers. “Please turn your head toward me again.” As she pressed and smoothed the dot against his head, Miguel felt the small pulse she described throb lightly into his skull and the surface skin and tissue behind his ear. He felt the back side of his ear slightly warm, as if he were blushing. As the pulse made it through bone, he had to involuntarily inhale as he felt a light pulse like a gentle electrical current spread through his brain.
“Whoa!”
“Bit of a rush, huh?” Dr. Banerjee asked.
“Yeah.”
“Alright. My turn,” Dr. Bob said. “Your dot antenna is connected to your brain waves and thus your thoughts now. In a moment, I’ll turn on the signal that will connect you to your personal guide avatar and let us go on with the calibration and test procedure.”
“Your guide avatar is an AI unique to you and powered by the unused areas of your brain. Your avatar will compile and parse while we initiate some of the simpler calibration tests. We’re pretty proud of that AI, too, but I’m getting ahead of myself. You’ll actually meet it later in this process,” Dr. Bob said with a grin.
“What makes the dot project unique is that the tech is mainly the dot antenna itself plus some communication protocols that let your brain directly interface with ambient EM signals. Signal processing is done directly by the aforementioned unused areas of your brain. This will increase activity in your brain, and what will create the warm sensation in your head and neck. The calibration process will go slow so that your metabolism can adapt to the increased activity.”
“Go ahead and sit back in the chair. I’m setting it to recline just a bit. Eventually, your interface will appear projected directly in front of your eyes, but we’re going to start with a physical screen. Again, to take things slow as your brain and metabolism adapt to the increased activity. I’m positioning the screen now.”
A large, flatscreen monitor descended from the ceiling to settle at a comfortable angle in front of Miguel’s eyes. It took up most of his vision, but he could make out Dr. Banerjee peripherally and saw Dr. Bob just beyond the edge of the screen.
“We’re going to start the calibration with some games that are mathematically simple and gradually increase the complexity. Rather than a keyboard, mouse, or other physical peripheral, you will directly interface with the games via thought control. Ready?”
“Guess so. Let’s do it.” The screen in front of him stayed black but for a couple of small, rectangular lines on either side and a square dot slowly floating between them.
“Pong? This first calibration game is Pong?”
“Like I said, mathematically simple,” Dr. Bob said with amusement in his voice. “Opening neural signal now. Get ready for the fun…”