Remote Control for Humans?

FatMacDaddy writes "The SFGate is reporting on a remote control for manipulating humans through electrical stimulation of the inner ear nerves.The author of this article describes his experience with having a "remote control for humans" device used on him. The developers hope to use this with video games and other entertainment, but it might also be used as a weapon to disable people. An interesting read with perhaps some disturbing implications. Better get a second layer on those tinfoil hats!"

there's old analog tech that does it better...

[wherrera]

Consider the effects of a gun at your back, or even the slave driver's whip :-/

weaponization unlikely

[EngMedic]

in order to weaponize this system, you'd have to figure out how to attatch electrodes behind the lobes of someone's ears at range -- and i challenge anyone to figure out how to do THAT. As it stands, vestibular stim is a cool new idea on how to improve balance control in risky environments (high iron construction workers faced with strong winds?), or the elderly and people with some form of vestibular impairment. I know of at least once case of essentially permanent dizziness, in which the patient suffered an accident that took out half of the vestibular system, so he is only getting feedback from one side of his body.

As a student at one of the big universities where balance control and vestibular control is studied -- let me be the first to say that all of this is HIGHLY alpha. At best, it's proof-of-concept only. I wouldn't be worried about being "remote controlled" -- but hey, add this to a VR sim and things might get better than the crappy sim software/hardware that we've had since the mid90's -- or do some of the stuff i mentioned above.

Remote Control?

[faqmaster]

We should get the whole 'local control' thing down first.

---
Aria Giovanni for President! [cafepress.com]

Re:Obligatory...

[Anonymous Coward]

But they made you say that, didn't they?

Re:Headline phrasing?

[ozmanjusri]

Yeah, I parsed this thing as "Remote Control [designed] for Humans." I was thinking "Great! Finally I can program that VCR."
Sadly, it's just another tool for turning excess humans into golems. Sigh.

It's official, humans are property.

[elucido]

Remote control allows for more efficiently slavery.

Re:Sure...

[Hal_Porter]

So we're all gonna get drafted and mod chipped and sent to invade Syria for Haliburton.

Re:Sure...

[Foobar of Borg]

This is exactly how an army was controlled in Kurt Vonnegut's Sirens of Titan. A remote controlled helmet would receive signals from a controller that force you to do things like strangle one of you friends, through muscle control. I thought it was really neat that one of his first books (I think it was the first) was actually a science fiction novel, rather than what you normally expect from Vonnegut.