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Brainwave Binoculars Will Pick Out The Things You Looked At, But Didn't See
Posted by Gizmodo US Edition at 9:30 AM on June 23, 2008
Pentagon gadget lab DARPA has just earmarked US$6.7 million to develop "brain-wave binoculars." Electrodes placed on the user's scalp records electrical brain activity in an attempt to use the cranium's unrivaled ability to spot patterns. With time, the binoculars can learn to identify objects that would normally pique the user's interest and direct them towards it. The binoculars are supposed to help soldiers out in the field by pointing out tanks or enemy combatants that they may have seen, but not noticed.
The technology is described as an example of "neuromorphic engineering"—hardware and software that tries to emulate human intelligence. Basically, the binoculars point out objects that our brains might have noticed, but not fully processed. The subconscious can detect multiple things at once, but the conscious mind can only focus on one thing at a time. By collecting data using human eyes and then passing the data back to the brain, the binoculars more or less add a second processing loop.
One possible problem: How to fine-tune it so that the binoculars don't just pick up on useless, distracting noise. Brains look for patterns in everything, and will sometimes find them even where they don't exist (i.e. Astrology). What if for every rocket launcher it did notice before us, it also pointed out how one specific mountain range in the distance looks like your mother-in-law's face? [Slashdot via Gizmag]
Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
There are currently no AU comments for this post.
HeD
Posted 10:19 AM 23/6/08
@electrikecho: You sir, are a comic genius! That was pretty goddamn funny.
HeD
electrikecho
Posted 9:41 AM 23/6/08
Army Major: God Damnit! Who used these last? I'm trying to scan the battlefield, but these f'ing binoculars keep zooming onto the soldier's asses! Are any of you bastards on loan from the Navy?
electrikecho
DeadWriter
Posted 9:40 AM 23/6/08
Or conversely, can be programed to help you miss things you might later notice.
DeadWriter
Curves
Posted 9:36 AM 23/6/08
So you can train this to find women you may have overlooked if they are the "type" you usually go for?
The lazy mans way of scoping out the babes.
Curves
WinkMe
Posted 9:35 AM 23/6/08
so would this be similar to how terminators distinguish between civilians and targets and weapons and stuff?
...im scared
WinkMe
HawkSkater0
Posted 10:43 AM 23/6/08
Yes, finally I can see all of those secret agents spying on me!
@Gizmodo: Love the dialog.
HawkSkater0
QuipsAhoy
Posted 10:41 AM 23/6/08
It's neuroMorphin Time! :)
QuipsAhoy
Valicious
Posted 11:28 AM 23/6/08
@electrikecho: once a friend of mine spotted a donkey show in the ;military with ;night vision.
Potential for making what you might've seen but not noticed for computer games.
Wouldn't be cheaper to play binaural beats trough radio to soldiers before they go spotting?
Valicious
lol123
Posted 12:09 PM 23/6/08
@Valicious: you do know binaural beats don't actually do anything right?
lol123
gravitation
Posted 11:51 AM 23/6/08
Tom Clancy's Signal to Noise.
gravitation
chonnes
Posted 11:46 AM 23/6/08
@Valicious: complete thoughts = very good > bulletpoints
chonnes
Valicious
Posted 12:36 PM 23/6/08
also they could play a looping rap song which goes
"tank , not man, not bird , is it coming? is it coming?"
or
+ Watch video
stay alert.
Valicious
Valicious
Posted 12:25 PM 23/6/08
@electrikecho: Well it was a camel show , or a sheep gig dude , in an Israely desert.
Valicious
Valicious
Posted 12:24 PM 23/6/08
@lol123: porn works.
beats are effective.
meet you at the cocktail party.
Valicious
electrikecho
Posted 12:20 PM 23/6/08
... and nice shot at astrology; a good example that any statistic can be bent towards one's bias when one change the scope until they find what they want.
And @Valicious: a donkey show seen through vision is fucked up. Besides that, I didn't know they were handing out NV goggles in Tijuana these days ;)
electrikecho
Valicious
Posted 12:20 PM 23/6/08
@chonnes: very lewd indeed.
All i wanted was to get soldiers high; The subconscious can detect multiple things at once, but; the conscious mind can only; focus; on ;one thing at a time for those who are low.
Regardless being a tank- if Mitsubishi succeeds developing the led display sprayable array; enemy forces will send distraction in the form of porn or send flashing brainwaves back at them with leds too.
Valicious
BiZarRroBALlmeR
Posted 12:17 PM 23/6/08
Damn you binoculars I was not looking at that dude.
BiZarRroBALlmeR
Valicious
Posted 1:00 PM 23/6/08
[prankroom.com]
thinking of n'am rifle bong.
Valicious
Purple Dave
Posted 2:00 PM 23/6/08
So...once you've got your pair suitably trained, does that mean you can strap it to a stick, hoist it up over the top of the foxhole, and have it scope out the situation for you?
Of course, one potential awkward side effect of this is that you might end up accidentally picking up your buddy's binocs only to discover that the sole thing they're trained to identify is when your squadmates are heading for the showers.
Purple Dave
Xenobiologista
Posted 1:48 PM 23/6/08
Good luck trying to make a portable EEG that will fit anybody and function reliably in the field.
Xenobiologista
electrikecho
Posted 1:41 PM 23/6/08
@Valicious: wow. the things you see out in the middle of a desert... Like the dude in Sudan who was forced to marry the goat.
electrikecho
Auld_Lang_Ziety
Posted 3:03 PM 23/6/08
Could use these to record the things you looked and *pretended* not to see when you were at the river with your girlfriend?
Auld_Lang_Ziety
MePerson
Posted 9:15 PM 23/6/08
You: Hey, that hill looks funny!
Binoculars: Dude, theres a rocket coming this way, and its right in front of you.
MePerson
ANoel
Posted 1:30 AM 24/6/08
"can learn to identify objects that would normally pique the user's interest and direct them towards it."
I used to have a set of these when I was a kid.
You'd press the lever on the side and up would pop interesting new views of the Grand Canyon, Eiffel Tour, Roman Colliseum, Great Pyramids... and yes, it did direct me towards travelling to see them all!
ANoel
SgtMac02
Posted 1:28 AM 24/6/08
All jokes aside (and there are many available here) this would actually be really cool if it worked. I spent a year driving up and down MSR Tampa outside Tikrit looking for IEDs. You have to drive really slow and try to see EVERYTHING that is within 10-20 ft of the road, then quickly evaluate what could possibly be concealing an IED. After a few months, you get decent at training your brain to take it all in at once, but this could make that type of scanning much more effective.
..of course, I have no hopes of this ever actually coming to fruition...but it's a nice try.
SgtMac02