Brains scanned for potential battlefield threats

Things seem to get better and better for soldiers on the battlefield as more and more technology start to take their rightful place. The Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA) recently combined soldiers brains to technology successfully, where a massive 120-megapixel camera as well as multiple computers running complex cognitive algorithms, known as a “cybernetic hivemind”, will work in tandem to sort out potential threats on the battlefield in double quick time.

Basically, a soldier will remain seated in front of a computer monitor while having an EEG strapped to his head. Images streamed from the camera will be sent over to the computer system which is running cognitive visual processing algorithms so that it can detect possible threats such as enemy combatants, sniper nests and IEDs amongst others. Such possible threats will then be shown to a soldier whose brain will have to figure out if those are genuine threats or just a false alarm.

This particular technology will work based on what is known as the P300 response, which is similar to having a jolt of energy surge through the human brain whenever it picks up something. Our brain will subsequently act on that energy surge by sending out additional waves which will classify the recognition as a threat, harmless, or worth checking out. In the future, DARPA wants to record responses to select images, figure out an algorithm that is accurate enough to be projected onto a future soldier’s eyepiece that has a Head Up Display (HUD) function, where the soldier will then be able to recognize threats in the field instead of sitting in front of a computer all day long. DARPA claims that this technology has an accuracy rate of approximately 91%, and things can only get better from here.

Edwin Kee
Categories: Military
Tags: military, us army