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US Army To Develop "Thought Helmets"
Hugh Pickens writes "Time Magazine reports on a $4 million US Army contract to begin developing 'thought helmets' to harness silent brain waves for secure communication among troops that the Army hopes will 'lead to direct mental control of military systems by thought alone.' The Army's initial goal is to capture brain waves with software that translates the waves into audible radio messages for other troops in the field. 'It'd be radio without a microphone,' says Dr. Elmar Schmeisser, the Army neuroscientist overseeing the program. 'Because soldiers are already trained to talk in clean, clear and formulaic ways, it would be a very small step to have them think that way.' The key challenge will be to develop software able to pinpoint speech-related brain waves and pick them up with a 128-sensor array that ultimately will be buried inside a helmet. Scientists deny charges that they're messing with soldiers' minds. 'A lot of people interpret wires coming out of the head as some sort of mind reading,' says Dr. Mike D'Zmura. 'But there's no way you can get there from here.' One potential civilian spin-off: a Bluetooth Helmet so people nearby can't hear you when you talk on your cell phone."
US Army Chief of Staff To Develop "Thought"
One problem with this is any electrical activity on the brain detected is then amplified. This makes TEMPEST attacks on the thoughts of the soldier much easier as the attacker already has an amplifier attached to the soldier. Solution? Every US Army soldier needs to wear a tin foil hat!
But they MUST think in Russian!!!
Seriously, $4 million is pocket change in the military budget.
(All thought, of course)
"Private Jenkins, Cover me!"
"Sir, Yes, Sir!....man, sarge is so cool and he has such a great ass! He can cov-er-me-an-e-time-he-likes, tee-hee!"
"Uhh...private Jenkins?!"
"Uhh uhh yes, sarge?"
"...I think I love you, too"
And then they'd get shot or something. Anyway, the moral of the story is...well...I forget, what were we thinking about, again?
+1 IDisagreeSoHeMustBeATrollOrAnAstroturferOrAShill
They should really look into other ways to deploy something like this. Maybe something that could be injected into a person. Perhaps nanotechnology?
On the other hand, it quite possibly *would* catch thoughts which you would normally say only under your breath or when the mic is off.
Wow, this guy's hot!
Done.
Thought : "Roger, Air Force One. Approach terminal Whisky-one"
Transmit (to Roger) : "Terminate Air Force with Whiskey"
Remember, You are unique...just like everyone else.
let's set so double the killer select all.
...one of the soldiers gets a tune stuck in his head?
All the rest of the soldiers will hear his mental rendition of "Never gonna give you up" by Rick Astley.
Not a pretty sight. Do we really want to live in a world where you can be MENTALLY Rick-rolled?
I don't think so.
I am open source, and Linux baby!
Drill Sergeant: I am Gunnery Sergeant Hartman, your senior drill instructor. From now on you will speak only when spoken to, and the first and last words out of your filthy sewers will be sir. Do you maggots understand that?
Recruits: Sir, yes sir.
Helmet: What a dickhead.
What if Tetris was invented by Nazis?
Nifty... I can see guys getting in real trouble with this. "Man that captain is hot, I wonder how she..."
*Stern look from the Captain*
"Uh umm..." *takes off helm*
~~ Behold the flying cow with a rail gun! ~~
Don't ask, don't tell, don't think.
+1 sad.
Honestly, isn't stuff like this why we all went into computer science
I went into computer science for the girls........
Don't be apathetic. Procrastinate!