Key idea: In partnership with a mix of technology researchers, the Australian Army is using headsets to read brain signals and control robot dogs via telepathy.
Original author and publication date: Tim Newcomb (Popular Mechanics) – February 24, 2023
Futurizonte Editor’s Note: Remember the first airplanes from the early days of aviation? They look nothing like today’s airplanes. Please, remember this new AI/telepathy exercise in Australia. In a few years, mind control of robotic soldiers will look nothing like today.
From the article:
The mere thought of controlling a robot is good enough for the Australian Army. In a new test, the land force has paired with a host of technology researchers to use telepathy to control robot dogs, part of a new wave of research aimed at eliminating the need for verbal or physically inputted commands in the control of various autonomous systems.
“This collaboration focused on how we could create a brain robotic interface that will allow a soldier, rather than operating an autonomous system with a command console, to operate the system using brains signals,” Lieutenant Colonel Kate Tollenaar, of the Robotic and Autonomous Systems Implementation and Coordination Office (RICO), says in a video. “This is very much an idea about what might be possible in the future.”
And so far, all it takes is a well-connected headset and a robot.
Partnering with the University of Technology, Sydney, the Defence Innovation Hub, and the Defence Science and Technology Group, the RICO branch of the Australian Army tested HoloLens 2 headsets and Raspberry Pi-based AI decoders to capture brain waves and translate them into “explainable instructions” sent via telepathy to an autonomous robot dog, in this case a Vision 60 Ghost Robot. It worked.
With the technology proving successful in the test field, the team conducted a second test that included a simulated operation of soldiers and ghost robot dogs working in tandem to clear an area.
