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Military pilots in combat must perform intricate manoeuvres, which can demand valuable seconds—or even minutes—of their focus and effort, says Popular Mechanics, a well-known online media outlet. Advanced touch screens or voice commands help pilots respond more quickly, but even these methods can take a few critical seconds. In high-stake situations, those seconds can spell the difference between life and death.
US military researchers are exploring a new high-tech helmet that can connect directly with a pilot's brain without need for surgery. This helmet would allow direct two-way communication between the brain and computer systems, aiming to make interactions quicker and more seamless. The helmet is designed to read brain waves and perform various tasks almost instantly, in just a fraction of a second.
In theory, this helmet would enable pilots to handle complex actions such as controlling drones in battle, simply by using their thoughts. This technology aims to make remote operations faster and more intuitive for pilots. Pilots could send what they are seeing directly to a military base, while also receiving information back through the helmet straight into their minds.
This would enable quick and seamless communication in real-time. This new, non-invasive brain technology could help improve memory, speed up learning of new skills and even assist with complex tasks by connecting to a specialist remotely. It is designed to make it easier for users to remember important information and get expert support when needed—all without any kind of surgery, at all.
In 2018, The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the US military's advanced research agency, launched a $125-million project called the Next-Generation Non-surgical Neurotechnology (N3) Programme. This initiative was focussed on achieving exactly these kinds of brain-connected advancements without requiring surgery. In theory, the N3 helmet would offer a way to bring cybernetics—the science of connecting machines and systems with human functions, such as brain activity, to make actions faster and more efficient—into the military without the need for implants in the body.
This helmet aims to create a direct link between a person's mind and digital systems in a non-invasive way. Al Emondi, the manager of DARPA's N3 programme, explained in a press release that, by developing an easier-to-use brain-machine interface that does not need surgery, DARPA could provide tools that help mission commanders stay actively engaged in fast-paced operations. This would allow them to make quick decisions as situations change rapidly, according to a report by Popular Mechanics.
The helmet is designed with 16 separate channels that connect to various parts of the brain. These channels can both pick up signals from the user's brain and send information back to it. This is achieved through a mix of magnetic, light-based (optical), and sound-based (acoustic) neural transmitters -- a device that sends and receives signals between the brain and an external system, allowing communication without physical connection by translating brain signals into understandable data—enabling smooth two-way communication.
The programme guidelines require that the helmet be able to connect with a tiny portion of the brain—just 16 cubic millimetres of brain tissues -- within an extremely short time frame of 50 milliseconds, or one-twentieth of a second. This rapid connection is needed so the helmet can quickly send and receive information, making communication between the brain and the system almost instant. Although the finished product may still be years off, DARPA has been investing in brain-related research for decades.
Since 1973, they have spent over $1 billion on neuroscience projects such as this one. With more funding coming in after 1999, DARPA achieved several breakthroughs. In experiments during the 2000s, researchers showed that monkeys could move a cursor on a computer screen—and even control an artificial arm—just by using their thoughts.
In the next major experiment, humans were able to complete more advanced tasks using only their thoughts. They controlled ground and air vehicles, even piloting a simulated F-35 stealth fighter, using mental commands alone. Despite these breakthroughs, DARPA's research has not yet led to systems ready for actual use.
There are still several big challenges to overcome. One main challenge is that most of the earlier studies have relied on implants to create a direct connection to the brain. Currently, the military appears focussed on developing communication systems that do not need implants, similar to what Elon Musk is exploring with Neuralink.
Neuralink, founded by Musk, is developing advanced technology to connect the human brain with computers. Their aim is to create tiny 'brain chips' that can be implanted through minimally invasive surgery, allowing people to control devices using only their thoughts. Once implanted, these chips pick up brain signals and translate them into commands, which could greatly help individuals with disabilities, such as those with paralysis, to regain control over specific functions.
This technology also opens up new possibilities for human-computer interaction, advancing how we connect with, and control, technology. In the past decade, researchers supported by DARPA have made significant progress towards developing a brain-helmet interface. A team at Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory is working on creating a fully non-invasive optical system to record brain activity, according to a DARPA research announcement.
The system would track changes in light within brain tissue that match with brain activity. According to a DARPA press release, a team from the Palo Alto Research Center in California is working on combining ultrasound waves and magnetic fields to generate small, focused electrical currents. These currents could be used to send information directly to the brain.
The Teledyne team is developing a way to understand and communicate with the brain by using two main tools: magnetometers and ultrasound. First, they use magnetometers, which are devices that can sense very small magnetic fields, to detect the natural magnetic signals produced by brain activity. Once they capture these signals, they use ultrasound waves to deliver those signals to specific brain cells, or neurons.
This approach aims to create a direct link with brain cells, potentially allowing them to read, or even influence, brain activity by sending signals in a controlled way. A fourth team, based at Carnegie Mellon, is working on a method to both read and influence brain activity. They plan to use ultrasound along with pulses of light that can pass through the skull to monitor brain activity.
Additionally, they aim to use magnetic fields to send signals to the brain, potentially allowing direct interaction with brain cells. Some methods for N3 are not entirely non-invasive, but are only slightly so. For instance, a team at Battelle, a neurotechnology company in Columbus, Ohio, is studying a way to insert tiny devices, called nanotransducers, into the brain without surgery.
These small devices would change the brain’s electrical signals into a format that can be read by an external receiver. The devices are designed to work both ways, allowing them to both send, and receive, information, enabling complete two-way communication. In 2023, a team at the University of Technology Sydney, in Australia, introduced a non-invasive device that uses a graphene sensor to monitor brain activity.
This device allows a person to control a robotic dog using their thoughts, selecting from a menu of nine different commands. Imagine if we could transmit data directly from one brain to another using a brain-to-computer-to-brain connection. This idea may be possible through the N3 programme's Magnetic Optical Acoustic Neural Access (MOANA) project.
This project aims to develop technology that could allow information to be sent and received between two brains, using computer systems to bridge and process the signals. The researchers at Rice University are exploring a technique to make brain cells, or neurons, more open to receiving new information by using gene therapy. Here is how it works: they inject a gene-therapy ‘payload’ into the brain, which is a carefully designed set of genes that enter specific neurons and cause those neurons to change slightly.
This change makes the neurons more responsive to signals sent through magnetic fields. Essentially, it allows researchers to control the neurons more easily by using magnetic fields to send information directly to these cells, almost like ‘writing’ data onto them. In simple terms, it is a way of adjusting brain cells to make them more accepting of outside signals, which could one day allow scientists to send information directly to the brain in a precise and controlled way.
At the same time, the researchers used light that can pass through the skull to perform the 'read' functions, allowing them to monitor brain activity. This technology could eventually allow an expert to guide someone remotely in carrying out specific tasks -- such as giving emergency medical help, or fixing a complicated machine -- even if that person is not trained in the field. It may sound like science fiction but, in 2009, researchers from Wake Forest University, the University of California and the University of Kentucky created a direct neural connection between two rats.
In the experiment, an untrained rat was able to complete a task in just minutes by receiving information from a trained rat -- a task that originally took the trained rat weeks to learn. One forthcoming military project, the Tempest sixth-generation fighter jet being developed by the UK, Japan and Italy, is expected to feature a helmet with 'read' capability. This advanced helmet will monitor the pilot's brain activity along with other physical data, such as skin response, heart rate, breathing, eye movement and electrocardiogram (EKG), to assess the pilot's condition during flight.
Onboard AI may, eventually, be able to monitor a pilot’s status and decide when to step in if emergency help is needed. None of these projects have yet produced technology that the military can actively use. While DARPA has not shared the outcomes of its research in these areas, it is clear that there is still a long way to go before this technology is fully developed.
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