DARPA wants to connect human brains and machines
DARPA wants to connect human brains and machines
By: Daniel Cebul
March 19, 2018
WASHINGTON ― As unmanned platforms, cyber systems and
human-machine partnering become more prevalent in 21st century war fighting,
the effectiveness of combat units will be determined by how quickly information
can be processed and transmitted between air-breathers and machines. To achieve
the high levels of brain-system communication that will be required on future
battlefields, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has launched a new
program to develop a noninvasive neural interface that will connect soldiers
with technology.
The goal of the Next-Generation Nonsurgical
Neurotechnology (N³) program is to “pursue a path to a safe, portable neural
interface system capable of reading from and writing to multiple points in the
brain at once,” according to Dr. Al Emondi, a program manager in DARPA’s
Biological Technologies Office.
“We’re asking multidisciplinary teams of researchers to
construct approaches that enable precise interaction with very small areas of
the brain, without sacrificing signal resolution or introducing unacceptable
latency into the N3 system.”
Although technologies that allow for high-quality brain
system communications exist today, these invasive techniques are not a
practical solution for ubiquitous man-machine communication.
Before soldiers can communicate with their R2-D2 units,
DARPA scientists must overcome several significant scientific and engineering
challenges.
The most significant challenge, according to a DARPA
press release, will be overcoming the physics of scattering and weakening of
signals as they pass through skin, skull and brain tissue. If this initial
challenge is surmounted, the focus of the program will shift to developing
algorithms for encoding and decoding neural signals, evaluating system safety
through animal testing and ultimately asking human volunteers to test the
technology.
While communication neurotechnology has a stronger
foothold in science fiction than reality, Emondi believes devoting resources to
the enterprise will spur breakthroughs. “Smart systems will significantly
impact how our troops operate in the future, and now is the time to be thinking
about what human-machine teaming will actually look like and how it might be
accomplished,” he said.
“If we put the best scientists on this problem, we will
disrupt current neural interface approaches and open the door to practical,
high-performance interfaces.”
DARPA wants the four-year project to conclude with a
demonstration of a bidirectional system being used to interface human-machine
interactions with unmanned platforms, active cyber defense systems or other
Department of Defense equipment.
Recognizing the potentially wide ethical, legal and
social implications of such neurotechnology, DARPA is also asking independent
legal and ethical experts to advise the program as N³ technologies mature.
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