Something entirely as popular with most people as a wand, that helps use of magic, might be the Mage Crown.
The Mage Crown is something which on one side can feed imagery and sensations into the sensory parts of the brain as well as pick-up intentions of action that might want to be carried out. This side of the system was developed for medical purposes to allow those with blindness and/or deafness to receive sensory input and those with locked-in syndrome to interact with the world.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Locked-in_syndrome
There is probably cross-over in Fenspace with brain implants used by cyborgs.
The second half of the Mage Crown is the magical detection and analysis side combined with the magic effectors allowing mana to be tapped and converted to produce magical effects. This system does not claim to follow any magic tradition, it just provides a way for someone to implement their understanding of a tradition or system of magical logic. The Crown isn't as good at precise focus and direction of magical effects as a specialised tool like a wand or staff, but there is no real reason why you shouldn't use one of these as well.
Originally Mage Crowns developed from training tools for mages, but it was found that those without a magegift could use a Crown to provide them with the magical senses that they lacked, and the magical limbs that they'd need to effect magic. Later, those who could have trained to be mages but didn't want to face the long period of developing their magical 'muscles' often used a Mage Crown.
Most of those who are 'naturals' and start with an active magical talent don't see the point of using a Crown, though some of these find using a Crown actively messes-up their use of their magical talent. A few 'naturals' find that using a Crown actually helps them develop magically. Mage Crowns have been used to help re-train mages who have somehow injured their magical abilities.
Some historians of technology compare the history and use of the Mage Crown to the television remote control. That was originally developed for use by the physically disabled (or 'differently abled', if you'd prefer). Later, it became something used by almost anybody, to the extent that a television couldn't be fully used without one.
Why wouldn't you incorporate all the functionality of a Mage Crown into a general purpose brain-computer interface?
http://en.wikipedia.org/w...%80%93computer_interface
The reasons might range from technical to cultural.
Mixing magic effectors with other varieties, such as an Interwave interface for Virtual Reality interaction with Virtual Worlds might risk disorientation and dissociation from reality. Magic effectors do things with the real world around you, VR interfaces could be interacting with bits of the world spread over an immense area, some of which are just simulations. Confusing the two could be very, very, unhealthy.
People who walk around running VR without there being any sign could be accused of risking becoming 'VR zombies'. The even more drastic step of letting a low-grade AI 'drive' your body through the more boring bits of life, while you have fun using full sensory interactive VR... Things get a bit confused when you start talking about Augmented Reality, as different people moving around might be seeing the world in quite different ways. Culturally this risks a fragmentation of society. Mixing a Mage Crown in with this is probably best avoided.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainbows_End
Mage Crowns might have a 'remote interface' mode. This would allow their interface capability to be used for VR without risking using magic on things around you that only exist in a VW. The simple form of this might be a mode switch, though this has a number of downsides. Alternatively, only using the VR side while not physically active (at least sitting down, with closed eyes) might allow maintenance of passive magical effects while interacting with VR.
This is part of a 'magic used by everyone' future tech approach. I know this could go in a host of different ways, but I thought a few ideas potentially useful in writing stories might be useful.
--
"It is the business of the future to be dangerous" - Hawkwind
The Mage Crown is something which on one side can feed imagery and sensations into the sensory parts of the brain as well as pick-up intentions of action that might want to be carried out. This side of the system was developed for medical purposes to allow those with blindness and/or deafness to receive sensory input and those with locked-in syndrome to interact with the world.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Locked-in_syndrome
There is probably cross-over in Fenspace with brain implants used by cyborgs.
The second half of the Mage Crown is the magical detection and analysis side combined with the magic effectors allowing mana to be tapped and converted to produce magical effects. This system does not claim to follow any magic tradition, it just provides a way for someone to implement their understanding of a tradition or system of magical logic. The Crown isn't as good at precise focus and direction of magical effects as a specialised tool like a wand or staff, but there is no real reason why you shouldn't use one of these as well.
Originally Mage Crowns developed from training tools for mages, but it was found that those without a magegift could use a Crown to provide them with the magical senses that they lacked, and the magical limbs that they'd need to effect magic. Later, those who could have trained to be mages but didn't want to face the long period of developing their magical 'muscles' often used a Mage Crown.
Most of those who are 'naturals' and start with an active magical talent don't see the point of using a Crown, though some of these find using a Crown actively messes-up their use of their magical talent. A few 'naturals' find that using a Crown actually helps them develop magically. Mage Crowns have been used to help re-train mages who have somehow injured their magical abilities.
Some historians of technology compare the history and use of the Mage Crown to the television remote control. That was originally developed for use by the physically disabled (or 'differently abled', if you'd prefer). Later, it became something used by almost anybody, to the extent that a television couldn't be fully used without one.
Why wouldn't you incorporate all the functionality of a Mage Crown into a general purpose brain-computer interface?
http://en.wikipedia.org/w...%80%93computer_interface
The reasons might range from technical to cultural.
Mixing magic effectors with other varieties, such as an Interwave interface for Virtual Reality interaction with Virtual Worlds might risk disorientation and dissociation from reality. Magic effectors do things with the real world around you, VR interfaces could be interacting with bits of the world spread over an immense area, some of which are just simulations. Confusing the two could be very, very, unhealthy.
People who walk around running VR without there being any sign could be accused of risking becoming 'VR zombies'. The even more drastic step of letting a low-grade AI 'drive' your body through the more boring bits of life, while you have fun using full sensory interactive VR... Things get a bit confused when you start talking about Augmented Reality, as different people moving around might be seeing the world in quite different ways. Culturally this risks a fragmentation of society. Mixing a Mage Crown in with this is probably best avoided.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainbows_End
Mage Crowns might have a 'remote interface' mode. This would allow their interface capability to be used for VR without risking using magic on things around you that only exist in a VW. The simple form of this might be a mode switch, though this has a number of downsides. Alternatively, only using the VR side while not physically active (at least sitting down, with closed eyes) might allow maintenance of passive magical effects while interacting with VR.
This is part of a 'magic used by everyone' future tech approach. I know this could go in a host of different ways, but I thought a few ideas potentially useful in writing stories might be useful.
--
"It is the business of the future to be dangerous" - Hawkwind