Shared understanding¶
Different expressions, shared meaning
People can meet in the same experience
Unison helps people collaborate by preserving a common semantic outcome while composing a native experience for each participant.
A blind person and a sighted person plan a repair¶
Maya reads and enters information through Braille and conversation. Theo prefers a visual workspace. They want to understand a leaking water heater, agree on a safe immediate response, and prepare for a plumber.
Shared intent
Make the area safe and prepare accurate information for qualified help
The household space contains the appliance record, manual, shutoff location, prior service, and approved photos. Each person retains private preferences and interaction state.
Maya's experience
Conversation and structured Braille
Dialogue explains the detected leak location and asks before using a recent photo. Braille regions provide the model number, water shutoff steps from the manual, uncertainty, plumber questions, and direct confirmation controls.
Theo's experience
Visual composition and touch
A visual layout shows the appliance image, highlighted shutoff location, cited manual steps, uncertainty, and a shared checklist. Touch controls support direct selection and confirmation.
Shared result
One decision with equivalent control
Both people receive the same safety state, evidence, uncertainty, choices, and confirmation. Either person can pause the plan. The shared receipt records the agreed action while private modality preferences remain personal.
The semantic outcome provides the shared foundation. Maya receives a native tactile and conversational experience. Theo receives a native visual and touch experience. Their actions operate on the same governed semantic state.
A Deaf person and a hearing person coordinate a visit¶
Amara communicates primarily in ASL. Her father uses speech and has limited sign fluency. They want to review the agenda for a specialist visit and agree on the questions they will ask.
- Amara signs her intent. A configured ASL adapter proposes the interpretation and presents it visually for review.
- Her experience uses sign output where available, concise text, visual structure, and explicit source links.
- Her father's experience uses conversation with a visual summary for exact names, dates, and questions.
- The shared space contains the agreed agenda. Each person's health context, notes, and disclosure decisions remain independently governed.
- Both participants confirm which questions and records will be shared with the clinician.
Recognition confidence and language variation remain visible. The participants can refine the interpretation before it influences the shared agenda.
A person changes modality with context¶
Jordan begins comparing insurance options on a visual display. When it is time to drive, the active experience shifts to concise conversation. Detailed tables and citations remain available for later review.
Unison preserves the comparison intent, selected options, source provenance, unresolved questions, and confirmation state. The driving experience presents only the information appropriate to that environment. On arrival, Jordan can resume through visual, Braille, or conversational output from the same semantic state.
A future constrained BCI pathway¶
A person with limited voluntary movement may use a qualified BCI adapter to express a small set of well-calibrated signals such as select, next, pause, and request assistance. Conversation, visual output, Braille, or another configured modality can provide the detailed response.
BCI-derived signals remain evidence of intent. Identity, assurance, policy, and confirmation determine which operations those signals can authorize. Higher-risk actions can require an independently configured confirmation route.
What equivalent participation means¶
Every participant can:
- understand the shared intent and current state;
- identify sources, uncertainty, and important assumptions;
- perceive privacy and sensing state;
- review choices and consequences;
- confirm, cancel, correct, and recover through their native experience;
- distinguish personal context from shared context; and
- receive a durable outcome in an appropriate form.
Equivalent participation focuses on meaning and agency. The amount, pacing, and organization of information can vary by modality and person.