The U.S. Army Research Office is funding new research into how brain signals could be analyzed and decoded to create a silent communication channel for soldiers.
As reported by C4isrnet, the research project – supported by the US Army Research Office – is led by researchers from the University of Southern California, along with colleagues in Los Angeles, Berkeley, Duke University, and several universities in the UK.
In total, the U.S. military is providing $6.25 million in funding — the funding will last five years — for the moonshot research, in which algorithms and advanced mathematics provide the basis for separating brain signals that “influence action or behavior from signals that do not,” the publication reports.
By separating these types of brain signals and discarding signals that are deemed irrelevant, this could be the first step towards successfully decoding action-based signals and intentions, interpreting them in a way that humans can understand – using brain interface systems.
Hamid Krim, a program manager for the Army Research Office, told C4isrnet that devices based on this technology could be able to provide on-the-spot feedback to teams so they can take “corrective action.” Stress and fatigue signals could let leaders know when soldiers need to rest. These devices could also provide a channel for silent communication through a central computer while soldiers are on the battlefield.
So far, tests have been conducted on monkeys to learn how to separate action-based signals from other information. However, a brain interface system suitable for military purposes is “decades away,” but significant strides are certainly being made in this area of research, Krim says.
Information source: zdnet.com
