NooNet

A Noological Network (NooNet) is a collective intelligence of two or more individuals bridged by an AI interface. This emerging technology is highly controversial as pushing the bounds of human development, alongside genetic engineering.

Utility

NooNets are still largely experimental. The CNS has perhaps the most developed NooNet infrastructure, including the development of ships crewed and controlled entirely by a NooNet group. The Pacific Asia Coalition did their most work on NooNet development during their Hegemonist period, but has since lost the economical means and ideological imperative. There are still neo-Hegemonists and transhumanists that support the development of NooNets, and there are movements to allow a NooNet to attain political office and run a nation or nations within the coalition.

Access & Availability

Only a few nations and organizations operate NooNets, most prominently the Confederation of Southern Nations - Confederación de las Naciones del Sur and the Pacific Asia Coalition who have been the two leaders in this field. It is often rumored, however, that even the Four Eyes Intelligence Organization is employing NooNets in their predictive analysis division to carry out complex and nuanced calculations that cannot be trusted to an AI or unaltered mind.

Complexity

The development of the NooNet has been a rough road filled with many challenges. The meticulously complex and sensitive neural connections can cause severe and permanent brain damage if not properly installed or if dislodged by movement, thus requiring members of a NooNet to be induced into a catatonic state. Even with a successful installation, an individual's nervous system or immune system could reject the implants or the external neural input with catastrophic results. Attempts at forming a NooNet have high rejection and failure rates that result in paralysis, catatonia, severe psychological issues, and death. These rates have only recently fallen below 50% as of 2300, and only for organizations with extensive histories in NooNet research and development.
Early NooNets did not feature the essential AI bridge between the minds in the network. This meant that not only thoughts, but emotions, were transferred between minds, even after attempts to exclude the amygdala and other parts of the limbic system from the NooNet connection. In the most extreme cases, this would result in an emotional feedback loop called an Emotional Cascade which could cause permanent psychological damage and jeopardize whatever systems the NooNet was connected to. The AI bridge between minds was developed as a way to curtail the transfer of emotions between parts of the NooNet, essentially compartmentalizing any emotional issues and preventing feedback loops.

Discovery

The development of NooNet technology has stemmed directly from research in articulated prosthetics and neural interfaces for connecting to networks (as seen with NetHeads) and controlling robots and hardware systems (such as construction armatures and combat drones). This technology filled a niche as computational power began to plateau, with artificial intelligence never quite reaching the capabilities of a human mind. NooNets succeeded in pushing both human brainpower and AI computational power to previously unimaginable levels.