University researchers in Texas say they are designing a new type of drone – one that could be controlled simply and only with a soldier’s mind.If successful, the project would allow soldiers to command future drones in ways beyond simple navigational commands. While troops would be able to order a drone to “move left” and “move right,” it would potentially enable them to command the vehicles to travel over specific geographic installations and send critical data back to their operators.

While the goal of controlling vehicles by way of the mind is still ways off, the hope is that by studying brain signals and magnetic waves, the researchers will be able link the activity to specific commands that can eventually be received by an advanced drone.

These commands would be relayed by sophisticated electroencephalogram systems (EEG) that can process brain signals.
Once developed, mind-controlled drones would significantly reduce the amount of supplies that troops have to carry into combat zones, the chairman of the university’s electrical and computer engineering department, Daniel Pack, believes.

While the project is primarily funded by the Department of Defense and the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the researchers also think the technology will have important uses for those with disabilities.( way to put a cushy “humanitarian twist in there)

Via Red Ice creations

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