Cost/Access Constraint

The constraint

The system must be inexpensive enough that access does not itself become a source of inequality. This is load-bearing, not incidental. If state-assisted control is a luxury good, it creates agency stratification: resourced people get high agency, unresourced people stay exploitable.

Engineering implication

Consumer hardware (webcams, phone sensors, wearables), on-device processing, private data. 2-10 year horizon as compute becomes cheaper.

Tension with capability

This constraint is in direct tension with measurement precision requirements. Lab-grade sensors would improve state estimation. Consumer sensors are noisier. The architecture must work with consumer-grade inputs or narrow its claims.

Kill condition coupling

If the plant model program (Phase 1-6) shows consumer sensors cannot resolve necessary regimes with acceptable uncertainty, the cost constraint conflicts with feasibility. The project must either change constraints (accept lab-grade sensors and narrower population) or narrow claims. This corresponds to KC1.