DARPA Researches Brain Wave Technology

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is conducting research into reading brain waves which could alert platoon leaders when soldiers lose situational awareness, writes Aviation Week.

The research into how computers read brain waves may one day speed up the ways intelligence analysts detect targets in satellite images, in turn helping soldiers in combat.

The Honeywell Image Triage System (HITS) has been developed by Honeywell Aviation under a US$4m multi-phase contract for DARPA.

The HITS system works by taking a satellite image and breaking it up into smaller image 'chips' that can be analysed in quick succession.

The process allows the examination of large amounts of visual information from different sources, improving an analyst's ability to go through a large amount of imagery, say scientists working on the project.

Honeywell Aerospace says it has taken a multidisciplinary approach to the research, combining the know-how of psychologists with electrical and mechanical engineers.

It could take five to ten years before the technology demonstrated for DARPA is ready for operational use.

By staff writer