Hand identifier

A hand-mounted combination of PDA, sensor device, and optionally a multitool or sidearm, the Hand Identifier was originally standard equipment for many Hemmoian and Orcish special agents of different professions. Due to their versatility, variations of Hand Identifiers were also frequently used by miners, doctors, maintenance men and engineers, to name a few.

With cybernetic implant interfaces becoming more commonplace at the end of the Peace Station Era, hand identifiers became gradually less common, replaced by prosthetic hands with the same features.

Etymology

The name "Hand Identifier" has a dual meaning. While the device could be used to scan and identify materials and objects in the surrounding world, it also functioned as a personal identification badge. Many lock mechanisms came with a slot for a hand identifier.

Scanner unit

The typical scanner included in a hand identifier has an effective scan range of around 500 meters to 10 kilometers. It can be set to pick up motion, particular types of matter, and even indications of power generation. This was typically achieved with a sonar sensor suite with dual functions. First, it accurately measures distance to, and the dimensions of, the nearest solid obstruction. Second, it serves as a motion detector within a 120m radius. Weight .2kg.

Most hand identifiers can only be blocked by cover over three solid meters in thickness (several thick concrete walls or the bulkhead of a ship will usually block scanner readings, but only the most dense of forests or jungles will have any effect at all).

Weapon unit

Some units were equipped with a low-powered weapon, such as a dart-throwing "crossbow" mod. Basically a compressed air powered needle gun, the crossbow addition could shoot small, high-speed projectiles in a single-shot fashion. These were typically tranquilizer darts.

A typical Hand Identifier gun had a 15-round clip holding the needles, and a 15-shot pressurized-gas tank to propel them. Both could be changed separately.

Low-powered stun and energy pulser weapons were also a possibility, but they typically required a linkup with an external power supply.