The U.S. Army is giving UC Irvine scientsts $4 million to try to invent a device that reads the minds of soldiers, turning thoughts into words spoken by a computer, a field of study called synthetic telepathy. (Image simulates possible device.)
The Army is looking for ways to communicate with soliders who’ve suffered neurologic damage on the battlefield, and for helping doctors to “talk” to other people who suffer from paralysis and stroke.
Nothing has been designed yet. But UCI says the scientists will probably create a light, non-invasive device that connects eletrodes to a person’s scalp. “A soldier,” says UCI’s Laura Rico, “would ‘think’ a message to be transmitted and a computer-based speech recognition system would decode the EEG signals.”
“Such a system would require extensive training for anyone using it to send and receive messages,” lead researcher Michael D’Zmura says in a news release. “Initially, communication would be based on a limited set of words or phrases that are recognized by the system; it would involve more complex language and speech as the technology is developed further.”
The grant from the U.S. Army Research Office will involve collaboration with scientists at Carnegie Mellon University and the the University of Maryland. D’Zmura, chair of UCI’s Department of Cognitive Science, will lead the effort.
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like zero point energy this would be an uncontrollable display of unethical abuse if wielded as a weapon within the wrong hands…innovative technologies such as network centric capabilities should be only appropriated to those who have the capabilities whether enhanced chemically or technically for empathic solutions for better understanding of the human species ;not solely for wargames…if one does not recognize the ethics one cannot recognize the true potential of this exotic form of evolution.
This is research into a device that would be controlled by the mind, not unwittingly reading the mind as the question implies. Its intent may be for the purpose of fighting the battles of the future or it may be to help those who suffer from neurotrauma. I hope that whatever edge we can gain - be it purely therapeutic, weaponry or both, that it results in increased national security and victory for our boys on the battlefield. Many philosophical debates have taken place over the ages regarding the prospects of us ever understanding / reading the mind. I, for one, join the “no” chorus as it is not likely that one can gain understanding of their own brain function using the brain to study itself. It would be like a watch understanding how it keeps time.
looking forward to becoming a cyborg myself
“The Army is looking for ways to communicate with soliders who’ve suffered neurologic damage on the battlefield, and for helping doctors to “talk” to other people who suffer from paralysis and stroke.”
Right. No, really. We’re, uh, just gonna talk to people with strokes… y’know, neurological damage. No way we would ever, ever even think about using this technology to interrogate people. Nope. You can trust the Army.
Big Brother wants the power to read your mind… but its in the interest of national security.
scary.
I hope these researches know just what they will be responisble for.
Most likely, somebody at UCI had connections with the Army. There is no way that such a project would get funded, otherwise. It’s nothing new at all, since people have been working on this problem for decades. What does this group have that is so promising as to deserve 4M? I hope there is an investigation into the award process.
Imagine what the Republican Party will do when they get there hands on this. You think Rove, Fox News and Roger Ailes can control your mind, just wait.
The military HAS TO get information from people who don’t want to give it, in order to save lives. Often civilian lives. All methods are now being taken away from them. Administration of drugs, torture, psychological coercion, etc.
If the military could hook up an enemy combatant and find out instantly if they were a terrorist, or just an innocent accidentally picked up, a lot of innocent people could go free immediately, and a lot of dangerous people could be kept out of circulation. If we get to the point where we can really mind-read, then critical information such as “Where IS Osama Bin Laden?” could shorten wars, save billions of dollars, save civiilan and military lives, etc.
Besides, Obama has already proven that he can control the minds of the populace. No wires needed.