US Army Invests in 'Thought Helmet' Technology for Voiceless Communication

[Dover]

In the future, soldiers may be communicating silently with sophisticated "thought helmets." The devices would harness a person´s brain waves and transmit them as radio waves, where they would be translated into words in the headphones of other soldiers.




The US Army has recently awarded a five-year $4 million contract to researchers from the University of California at Irvine (led by UCI´s Mike D´Zmura), Carnegie Mellon University, and the University of Maryland to study the concept. It will likely be a decade or two before the thought helmet becomes a reality, but the rough technology is already under investigation. Researchers have been working on other brain-computer interfaces, such as Emotiv Systems´ brain-wave headset for video games, which is expected to be available commercially next summer.

The Army's version would of course be more sophisticated and reliable than the gaming headset. To make the thought helmet a feasible piece of equipment for soldiers, scientists need to combine advances in computing power together with our understanding of the human brain.

At the moment, the thought helmet concept consists of 128 sensors buried in a soldier´s helmet. Soldiers would need to think in clear, formulaic ways, which is similar to how they are already trained to talk. The key challenge to making the system work is a software system that can read an electroencephalogram (EEG) generated by the sensor data, and pick out when a soldier is thinking words, and what those words are.

Because the brain is a complex system and generates such large amounts of data, researchers must also make improvements in computing power. Soldiers will also have to be trained to think "loudly" to make it easier for the system to pick out their words from the brain´s background noise. Also, every individual´s EEG signals are a little different, so users and computers will have to be calibrated so that computers recognize each person´s unique mental pattern.

In early versions, recipients will most likely hear messages rendered by a robotic voice in their headphones. But the researchers also think it´s possible to render commands in the speaker´s own voice, as well as indicate the location of the speaker relative to the listener...>

http://www.physorg.com/news141314439.html

[grannie4peace]

1. this is creepy

[Ganja Ninja]

5. Yeah it is.

With this they're a step away from soldiers that could be totally controlled. Imagine a soldier compelled to fight against his will or fight on after being wounded or even killed. It's as creepy as it gets.

[Marblehead]

2. isn't this is how

the borg got started?

[Indenturedebtor]

3. What a waste of money

This isn't going to work. EEG is too rough of a measurement to effectively and reliably pick out words. This could work with PET scans or something like it if that technology were portable. But this is a waste of money.

[Dover]

4. On the contrary

Cheney has been doing trials with Bush for 8 years. And before this model I believe the
earlier version was tested by the Wizard of Oz on the Scarecrow and friends.

[Indenturedebtor]

6. Lol actually I think that Bush is controlled using the Coors Lite method

Monkey gets a silverbullet if monkey makes noises at the camera.

[Nihil]

7. Given the scale & frequency of f*ckups they manage with simple voice commands ...

... I would *not* want this to be deployed in a "combat zone".

Mind you, this bit made me laugh ...
> Soldiers will also have to be trained to think "loudly" to make
> it easier for the system to pick out their words from the brain´s
> background noise.

Picturing a whole lot of mediocre comments coming through then
a completely clear & mentally loud "OH SHIT! F*CK! F*CK! F*CK!"
:rofl:

[Posteritatis]

8. Stuff like this would be a godsend for aphasics or locked-ins (nt)

[Phoonzang]

9. Seriously...as potentially world changing as this is all you people can say is how terrible it is?

Yes I know they're looking at military applications now and "OMG MILITARY EVIL BLAR", but many inventions go through the military first. If someone mentions the military, people's brains just shut off. Just imagine how it could revolutionize communication. Imagine the benefit for people who CAN'T SPEAK because of some medical condition or accident. That's only the tip of the iceberg...

[Indenturedebtor]

10. I think there was one comment about this being terrible, but most seem to think it a terrible idea?

It's not going to work for combat situations period. A person would have to train for month after month using INTENSE concentration to connect with this biofeedback device, and then when they actually used it they would again have to use the biofeedback. This is a waste of money. The brain doesn't simply come hardwired with a neuron for the word "Tango". :eyes:

[Posteritatis]

11. One comment?

The first is that generic squick-reaction sillness; the second talks about soldiers being reduced to remote-controlled zombies; the third invokes the fucking Borg of all things, and those are all before your comment (which seems to have been disproven in things as mundane as Discover articles, never mind the actual literature).

Phoonzang's right; people in this thread shut their brain off because the evil M-word showed up and are completely ignoring any other applications from it.

[Indenturedebtor]

12. So in your "wrap up" you mention one post about "Military = bad"

And what Discover articles?

I do happen to know quite a bit about the brain. I also follow mainstream science rags so I know that a lot of times they're hungry for that next story - regardless of it's merits.

I'm sorry but without some sort of portable PET scan this technology isn't really feasible in my opinion. There is too much noise for EEG's to be a good medium for something as complicated as speach. If they do somehow manage to get it to work every soldier will have to spend months training with the helmet just so he/she can send a few simple phrases. After of course we spend hundreds of millions over the next 20 years developing this :eyes:

And for that matter... why spend the money on this? What is the problem with speaking quietly into a mike? How about just putting some buttons on the gun for simply phrases when speach is a liability?

This is extremely silly.