Special Ops Command Working on Mind-Reading Kit for Troops

Researchers at U.S. Special Operations Command are working to bring together sensors, data, and artificial intelligence in "genius machines" to train future soldiers to learn superhuman abilities that include mind-reading, Defense One reported.

According to Defense One, in August Sofwerx researchers combined a special glove with software and hardware from Boston-based Pison Technologies and within hours, a test subject was able to make subtle movements in the air to manipulate a virtual tactical air control map.

"When I flick my finger, it picks up the nerve impulse from the magnetic field," Sofwerx chief technology officer Brian Andrews told Defense One, referring to the small amounts of electricity used by the brain to trigger muscle movement.

Earlier this month, Sofwerx also tested a "physiological analysis tool" designed to help troops understand, in real time, how foreigners are receiving or interpreting their messaging, information, and psychological operations.

"We pulled together quite a few sensors," Andrews said. "Through radars, through video, you can tell heart-rate variability. You can get temperature from [the subject's] body. You can do voice analysis" to detect how, for instance, a conversational partner feels about the information an operator is giving them.

According to Defense One, the researchers tested a scenario that put a soldier in a village where ISIS has been busily recruiting. As the operator talks to village elders, the system collects and interprets data. In real time, the system indicates whether the villagers received the message and whether they viewed the messenger favorably, regardless of what they were saying. 

SOCOM is forming a joint acquisition task force for the program, Michelle Popke, deputy head of the organization's Command Data Office, told Defense One. In the months ahead, that task force will consult with the Navy SEALS, the Army Rangers and others to figure out their needs for human-machine interaction, data, applications, and communications, she said.

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