{"id":173742,"date":"2023-10-08T06:26:34","date_gmt":"2023-10-08T11:26:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/2023\/10\/brain-computer-interfaces-could-let-soldiers-control-weapons-with-their-thoughts"},"modified":"2023-10-08T06:26:34","modified_gmt":"2023-10-08T11:26:34","slug":"brain-computer-interfaces-could-let-soldiers-control-weapons-with-their-thoughts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/2023\/10\/brain-computer-interfaces-could-let-soldiers-control-weapons-with-their-thoughts","title":{"rendered":"Brain-computer interfaces could let soldiers control weapons with their thoughts"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Imagine that a soldier has a tiny computer device injected<\/a> into their bloodstream that can be guided with a magnet to specific regions of their brain. With training, the soldier could then control weapon systems thousands of miles away using their thoughts alone. Embedding a similar type of computer in a soldier\u2019s brain could suppress their fear and anxiety<\/a>, allowing them to carry out combat missions more efficiently. Going one step further, a device equipped with an artificial intelligence system<\/a> could directly control a soldier\u2019s behavior by predicting what options they would choose in their current situation.<\/p>\n

While these examples may sound like science fiction, the science to develop neurotechnologies like these is already in development. Brain-computer interfaces<\/a>, or BCI, are technologies that decode and transmit brain signals to an external device to carry out a desired action. Basically, a user would only need to think about what they want to do, and a computer would do it for them.<\/p>\n

BCIs are currently being tested in people with severe neuromuscular disorders<\/a> to help them recover everyday functions like communication and mobility. For example, patients can turn on a light switch by visualizing the action and having a BCI decode their brain signals and transmit it to the switch. Likewise, patients can focus on specific letters, words or phrases on a computer screen that a BCI can move a cursor to select.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Imagine that a soldier has a tiny computer device injected into their bloodstream that can be guided with a magnet to specific regions of their brain. With training, the soldier could then control weapon systems thousands of miles away using their thoughts alone. Embedding a similar type of computer in a soldier\u2019s brain could suppress [\u2026]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":661,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-173742","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-biotech-medical","category-robotics-ai"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173742","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/661"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=173742"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173742\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=173742"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=173742"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=173742"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}