Unexpected Technology will Enable Silent Communication During Operations 

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Silent communication is often a must in covert operations or when planning a surprise attack. New research funded by the U.S. Army Research Office successfully separated brain signals that influence action or behavior from signals that do not. The breakthrough in decoding brain signals could be the first step toward a future where soldiers silently communicate during operations.

Using an algorithm and complex mathematics, the team was able to identify which brain signals were directing motion, or behavior-relevant signals, and then remove those signals from the other brain signals — behavior-irrelevant ones. 

Researchers could build on the research to allow the brain and computers to communicate so soldiers can silently talk via a computer in the field.

The service wants to get to the point where the machine can provide feedback to soldier’s brains to allow them to take corrective action before something takes place, a capability that could protect the health of a war fighter.

The development could also reflect stress and fatigue signals that the brain gives out before someone actually realizes they are stressed or tired, thus letting troops know when they should take a break. 

In the experiment, the researchers monitored the brain signals from a monkey reaching for a ball over and over again in order to separate brain signals. But more work is to be done, as any sort of battle-ready machine-human interface using brain signals is likely decades away. What’s next? Researchers will now try to identify other signals outside of motion signals, as reported by c4isrnet.com.