Remote controlled Avatar question.

[Pa'li Makto]

Just a thought, what do you think the limitations of the remote control of the Avatar body are via the link chamber? Jake seems to be able to go quite far away from the link chamber with his Avatar body but how far is too far before the link fails?

[Hunter of the Glade]

Yeah I've also thought about this...
I guess that's why they had to move the link shacks all those times...to get better "reception" if you will

[iron_jones]

This is a good question.

[Unilyu]

The range probably isn't that far because although Jake made it to Hometree from Hell's Gate if that was well and truly within range then I don't see Grace getting permission to fly them out to the remote site (the number of which escapes me) which would then require constant supply trips as well as limiting Jake's communication with the RDA.

[Human No More]

Originally Posted by Hunter of the Glade

Yeah I've also thought about this...
I guess that's why they had to move the link shacks all those times...to get better "reception" if you will

When?

They moved the link to the tree of souls so the marines couldn't find it.

The link is likely quantum-based to avoid all the potential problems of radio etc. (and the fact that the avatar is biological) so range wouldn't be a concern in the same way as with others.

[Banefull]

Some basic communication theory 101: Let us imagine if it were a radio transmission. These days, most information is transmitted digitally (gray code binary in particular) because it subject to less interference; however, human brain works with analogue signals. Analogue signals potentially can have infinite resolution unlike signal digital signals but they have are very prone to disruptions from outside "noise." Neither of these drawbacks is ideal if you are trying to control an Avatar. If the link machines transmitted in analogue, the range would be extremely short. If you move far away, you will find that your body will twitch and convulse because the transmission is being subjected to small variations in signal amplitude difference. If the transmission were digital and then converted to analogue inside your body, then you would find that you could only move your body parts up to a certain precision. For instance you might find that you could rotate your arm to 30.001 degrees and 30.002 degrees but not 30.0015 degrees.

This picture sums it up very well.

where the grey line would be an analogue signal and the red line is a digital signal.

and that digital signal would be transmitted as a series of bits usually gray code which is different than standard BCD binary.

The main attraction of gray code is that each number has only a 1 bit difference from the previous value. If 1 bit were to accidentally change value, there is a much better of chance of correcting the error.

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The only real option would be quantum entanglement as mentioned above. If this is the case, I would imagine that the link machine is vastly more expensive than the avatar itself because reading all of those entangled electrons is a very time consuming process. It would have to be done fast enough to keep up with real time within a reasonable amount of delay.

[Woodsprite]

I think I recall reading in the survival guide how the link machine is directly in sync with the root system on Pandora, using the moon's natural electrical connections to serve as a "link" to the avatar, making it possible for the avatar to travel literally anywhere on the moon.

...Which is why avatars can only be operated on Pandora.

[Pa'li Makto]

Ahh I see, thanks for the imput guys. It was just a thought I had when I was watching Avatar last night.
Then I would ask how they can utilise the moons natural neural connections..That would take a lot of explaining though.

[Banefull]

Whatever method it uses, it doesn't involve wires or any direct connection to the natural network. After the escape from hell's gate, you can see that Norm is controlling his Avatar while the shack is in the air. However the link is performed, its still done remotely to some degree.

[Pa'li Makto]

Mmm that's what I'm thinking about now...How they manage to link the linking chambers with the neural connections of Pandora without wires. Maybe they use some unobtanium in the linking wires/ harness to utilise the natural energy of Pandora?

[Tsawke`Iheyu]

Originally Posted by Banefull

Some basic communication theory 101: Let us imagine if it were a radio transmission. These days, most information is transmitted digitally (gray code binary in particular) because it subject to less interference; however, human brain works with analogue signals. Analogue signals potentially can have infinite resolution unlike signal digital signals but they have are very prone to disruptions from outside "noise." Neither of these drawbacks is ideal if you are trying to control an Avatar. If the link machines transmitted in analogue, the range would be extremely short. If you move far away, you will find that your body will twitch and convulse because the transmission is being subjected to small variations in signal amplitude difference. If the transmission were digital and then converted to analogue inside your body, then you would find that you could only move your body parts up to a certain precision. For instance you might find that you could rotate your arm to 30.001 degrees and 30.002 degrees but not 30.0015 degrees.

This picture sums it up very well.

where the grey line would be an analogue signal and the red line is a digital signal.

and that digital signal would be transmitted as a series of bits usually gray code which is different than standard BCD binary.

The main attraction of gray code is that each number has only a 1 bit difference from the previous value. If 1 bit were to accidentally change value, there is a much better of chance of correcting the error.

----------------------------

The only real option would be quantum entanglement as mentioned above. If this is the case, I would imagine that the link machine is vastly more expensive than the avatar itself because reading all of those entangled electrons is a very time consuming process. It would have to be done fast enough to keep up with real time within a reasonable amount of delay.

This ^ is pretty accurate.

If several answers here are right, then how does the Flux Vortex permit a signal to remote control an Avatar body ?

[Human No More]

I don't remember there being anything at all about it using the neural network, and the links DO work on Earth ("how much link time have you logged?", as well as the background about the development of Avatars). It couldn't only work on Pandora for ANY of that to be at all plausible.

[Pa'li Makto]

Hmmm perhaps but I'm pretty sure the link chamber would of been linked to a arficicial simulor of an Avatar body, given how expensive and time consuming it is to create an Avatar. So I'm fairly sure the link would of been connected to the simulator through some type of electrical current.

[Human No More]

But that connection is not part of the neural network, and works in a completely different way. Anyway, Norm was clearly linked while the mobile room was being moved under Trudy's Samson. There is nothing anywhere about it using the neural network (which the technology predates the discovery/full understanding of).

[Pa'li Makto]

Hmmmm interesting..Now I have two different takes on this.