Personal Defence Shield

A Personal Defence Shield (PDS) is a type of high-end personal defence system available as an augmentation. A PDS uses directional graviton projectors that activate in response to detected physical contact and create a gentle, but firm repulsion effect, preventing contact with the protected area. The effect looks and feels similar to magnetic repulsion. A PDS does not use forcefields, which allows it to be lightweight and cheap; however, it is considered to be in a different defensive league than forcefields and does not protect against, for example, ballistic impacts. In the consumer space, PDS implementations are often used by cyborgs and synthetics as a way of enforcing personal space and preventing unwanted touching.

Like a forcefield, a PDS may be on or off, and does not discriminate between allowed and disallowed entities, but PDS systems can often be configured to allow certain body areas to be contacted whilst prohibiting others. A PDS tracks the user’s own limbs to ensure their own contacts and contacts with objects they are holding are not repelled. Also, a PDS incorporates an emergency failsafe that detects when the user becomes incapacitated (i.e. due to a medical condition) and automatically disables the system so bystanders are not prevented from rendering aid.

PDS systems are regulated in areas where close physical separation is a natural consequence, such as on public transport networks. Passengers are requested to set their PDS to the minimum required level to prevent contact whilst allowing enough boundary space to not impede others.