The U.S. Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has taken its research into a viable "brain machine interface" (BMI) to a higher level with a program to develop a non-invasive "neural interface" that will connect American soldiers to their weapons telepathically.
This DARPA program called the "Next-Generation Non-Surgical Neurotechnology," or N3, seeks to achieve high levels of brain-system communications without surgery. On non-military applications, N3 should enable breakthroughs aimed at improving the quality of life, such as access to computers and the internet and control of prosthetic limbs.
N3 "aims to develop a high-resolution, portable neural interface system capable of reading from and writing to multiple points in the brain at once," said DARPA. The agency said such a non-invasive system will extend the power of advanced neurotechnology to able-bodied individuals. N3, which will go on for four years, might also support future Department of Defense (DoD) efforts to improve human-machine teaming.
N3 aims to develop two new technologies. One will be a tiny BMI where a user might have to ingest different chemical compounds to prod external sensors to read his brain activity. This will enable him to control the technology using his mind. The other technology is a non-invasive technology that will monitor the brain and the implanted device.
"DARPA created N3 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," said Dr. Al Emondi, program manager in DARPA's Biological Technologies Office (BTO).
"High-resolution, nonsurgical neurotechnology has been elusive, but thanks to recent advances in biomedical engineering, neuroscience, synthetic biology, and nanotechnology, we now believe the goal is attainable."
Existing non-invasive neurotechnologies such as the electroencephalogram and transcranial direct current stimulation (TDCS) offer nowhere near the precision, signal resolution, and portability required for advanced applications by people working in real-world settings.
The biggest hurdle to N3 will be overcoming the complex physics of scattering and weakening of signals as they pass through skin, skull, and brain tissue.
"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," said Dr. Emondi.
He said the only technologies to be considered for N3 must have a viable path toward eventual use in healthy human subjects.
N3 will ultimately result in the demonstration of a bi-directional system being used in a defense-relevant task. These tasks might include human-machine interactions with unmanned aerial vehicles; active cyber defense systems, or other properly instrumented DoD systems.
If successful, N3 technology could also find application in other areas that stand to benefit from improved human-machine interaction. These include partnering humans with computer systems to keep pace with the anticipated speed and complexity of future military missions.
