Netoshen - Frai'ease Research

“For many many years our people have had to rely on bulky, over the head equipment in order to see in high-light environments, with a piece of equipment that required a constant stream of power that - if ever cut - would end up blinding the citizen in the worst case scenarios. Now, however, scientists have discovered that through the use bio-cybernetic engineering, they can create a kind of lens that can be placed over the key,” the reporter, a Laibe female, stood in front of a large circular building that had the name Frai'ease Research Institute on it. Behind her was a group of military personnel, all in uniforms, some of which were heavily armed with others had no weapons that could be seen.

The scene then changed as the reporter was lead into the building, the image would occasionally black out whenever the entourage would arrive at a security door. After a short period of time the image would then return and finally, the group would arrive in a bleached white room with several workers going about their business, although one of them - a My'leke who looked to be well into his seventies - walked over to the reporter and spoke to someone off camera before turning to the female. “I'm glad to see that you could come, we have a demonstration,” the My'leke spoke in a tone that could only be described as someone having been in the research field for far too long. “It has taken us thirty years alone just to find a way to make this possible, although much of it is thanks to eternal help,” as the My'leke spoke he walked over to a table which had several clear boxes on it.

“What do you mean by external?” asked the reporter.

“What I mean is that a lot of our research is done through crowd sourcing, yes we handle the more difficult stuff, but with crowd-sourcing we are able to glean idea's from the populace which in many cases are idea's we might never have thought up of. Thanks to this, we've found a method to make this all possible,” the My'leke spun his tail around and picked up one of the boxes and showed to the reporter. “In here we have a lens so thin, that you wouldn't even notice it you have it on.”

“Like eye-contacts?” the reporter had an arched eyebrow as she spoke.

“Kind of,” one of the assistants spoke before the My'leke could. “Eye-contacts only correct vision, these work only be blocking out a certain degree of light from reaching our eyes, and polarizing high light areas to reduce their effects.”

“I see, but what about for our military though?” The reporter glanced to her left, the camera moving along with her, to show a few soldiers that had come with them. “In battle a flash bang can be used to create a bright flash of light, would these new kinds of lens still create the same problem as our current goggles?”

“Unfortunately yes,” the My'leke spoke before his assistant could. “That's why they are not available yet, we haven't yet solved how to make it so that the lens will automatically polarize in high light levels. We have some theories to make it possible, but those are - after all - just theories.” The My'leke stopped and was about to go back to work his assistant whispered something into his ear. “Oh that's right,” he gestured for the reporter to follow and lead the entourage out of the room, down the hall, and into another room.

This room wasn't bleached white, unlike the other one, but instead was a soft bluish colour with dim lighting. “Because we are not sure how long it'll be before we get those lens perfected, we've had a group of scientists working on improving the current system. As you know, the current light-vision goggles are bulky, heavy, and can get in the way sometimes; this is especially true given how much the front protrudes forward. Thanks to improvements in current technology, along with systems now being smaller than before, we've been able to create this,” the My'leke gestured toward a pedestal that was up against a wall. The item that he was referring to almost looked like a bandanna, except that the front of it had what looked like a pair of goggles attached to it, but a pair that were much shorter than the one's sitting beside it.

The reporter looked at this new gadget, her eyes scanning it. “Where's the battery?” she asked.

“There is none, at least not a removable one,” the My'leke picked up the device and handed it to the reporter. “You might notice that one the old system,” he picked up the older one which was on the next pedestal over. “That the battery and small generator were the heaviest parts of the system, this was a hindrance to our people as they couldn't use other head-wear and was even worse for our Guardians and Soldiers,” he gestured to the large pack at the rear of the light-vision goggles and removed the back-end to show the internal battery and the area where an energy crystal could be placed.

Then he placed the old system back on the pedestal and taped the new one. “This new kind uses something that took us a few years alone to develop, a flimsy kind of battery that can store the energy generated by a person's motion. The more someone moves around, the more energy is generated and more that will be stored into the on-board battery, naturally though once the battery is full the motion system will switch off automatically until the battery goes down to forty percent,” the My'leke gestured for the device and the reporter handed it to him. “The thin bandanna hides the motion system within itself, along with the circuitry needed to power the goggles on the front; a micro-processor located within the goggles provides the software needed for this device to operate.”

“When will it be available?”

“We are aiming for a release sometime within the next session or two, all we need to solve right now is a minor issue that prevents the goggles from working if you are constantly going in and out of a high light environment. Once we've fixed that, we can get it out there for people to use.” The My'leke appeared to view this with a cheerful demeanor as his tail whipped up and down excitedly.

The reporter gave a nod. “What will happen to the old system?”

“It'll be phased out, but its cost will be cut in half; people will still be able to use it, after all hikers and some sports enthusiasts still view it as a viable device to use but the Navy and our Guardians will more than likely completely abandon the old system in lieu of the new one.”

“And the cost?”

“Oh now your asking a question that I can't answer, I'm not a financialist, I'm a scientist!”

With that the reporter snickered and turned toward the camera. “Well folks you've heard it here, it seems we'll be able to replace these old, outdated, and bulky devices for some new ones that wouldn't give us red lines on the back of our heads. We hope you've enjoyed this segment of our show, and will see you again later!”