Encounter Suits
A variation of common space suit technology, Encounter Suits became commonplace during the Peace Station Era when the prospect of alien species interacting with one another became an everyday ordeal. Unlike space suits and other such environmental gear that focus on isolating the user from the harmful aspects of the environment, encounter suits represent a compromise between isolation and the facilitation of social relations with alien beings. To this end, encounter suits are often equipped with invisible forcefields and see-through materials, aiming to give the impression there is no suit at all. The technology would eventually evolve to the point where the user would forgo the bulky suit altogether and simply carry a small force field unit.
Cultural significance
In the case of the Peace Station, an oxygen-nitrogen atmosphere was maintained on a majority of the station's decks. Orceronian species such as the Hemmoians and Orcs, thusly, were forced to wear some type of encounter suits on the station. On the other hand, an Orceronian methane-based atmosphere was maintained on some levels of the station; on these levels, oxygen-breathers were forced to suit up.
Other species like the Ollapukkitians and Öksys have their own unique atmospheric requirements and similarly require suits of their own. Of these, the Ollapukkitians in particular have incorporated such suits into their daily lives with great success. This has resulted in Ollapukkitians being capable of sustaining themselves in a wide range of hostile alien environments, going as far as establishing immigrant cities on worlds with entirely incompatible atmospheres like Aldaain and Inster.
Technology
Early encounter suits were bulky and resembled the more common space suit, complete with helmets, spare tanks and pressurization seals. Eventually however, the technology would evolve to the point where the user could forgo the bulky suit altogether and simply carry a small force field unit. These were sometimes referred to as "Encounter Devices" as opposed to suits.
