This tiny worm became temporarily paralyzed when scientists fed it a light-sensitive material, or "photoswitch," and then exposed it to ultraviolet light.
Credit: American Chemical Society
LiveScience.com | Set your ultraviolet rays to stun. Researchers have now developed a molecular on-off switch that can paralyze animals when they are exposed to ultraviolet beams.
The animals that scientists experimented with — pinhead-sized worms known as nematodes — stayed paralyzed even when the light was turned off. When exposed to ordinary light, the paralysis wore off.
The researchers fed a light-sensitive material — a "photoswitch" known as dithienylethene — to the transparent worms. When exposed to ultraviolet rays, the molecule turned blue and the worms became paralyzed. Using visible light instead made the chemical turn colorless and the paralysis ended.
Although it remains uncertain how the switch causes paralysis, materials scientist Neil Branda at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, Canada, and his colleagues suspect that when the molecule is blue, its structure interferes with the metabolic pathways responsible for energy in the worm. Different levels of paralysis were seen depending on how much of the photoswitch the worms took — at too high a level, the light even killed the worms.
Branda wanted to make clear that this photoswitch would likely not have the same effect on humans. "You'd have to have a huge amount of it," he explained. "If you did, you might see the activity of cells shut down, which would eventually kill them. Paralysis is just an intermediate step to death in many cases."
The research behind this photoswitch could nevertheless have medical applications, he added.
Other researchers are investigating light-activated therapies — for instance, specific wavelengths of light can in principle trigger microscopic capsules to deliver cancer-fighting medicines, so that doctors can specify when and where they work, as opposed to potentially damaging the rest of the body. One concern there is that such capsules might break down before they are supposed to, releasing their payloads when and where they are not wanted.
If Branda and his colleagues develop photoswitch drugs, then no capsules are needed — the drugs remain inert in the bloodstream until activated.
"For instance, we've demonstrated a photoswitch that changed shape, and in one form, it fit into the active site of an enzyme really well, controlling its activity, while in its other form, it was too big to fit into that site," Branda said. "For any clinical applications, we wouldn't want to use UV light, which can damage tissues."
The research was detailed in a recent issue of the Journal of the American Chemical Society.
New Scientist | THE Pentagon's efforts to develop a beam weapon that can deter an adversary by causing a burning sensation on their skin has taken a step forward with the development of a small, potentially hand-held, version. The weapon, which is claimed to cause no permanent harm, could also end up being used by police to control civilians.
The idea of the weapon is to "create a heating sensation that repels individual adversaries", according to the Joint Non-Lethal Weapons Directorate (JNLWD) in Quantico, Virginia, which develops less-lethal weapons for the US military and coastguard.
Tests with a rifle-mounted infrared laser, carried out at a US air force lab near Dayton, Ohio, have determined a combination of laser pulse power and wavelength that causes an alarming, hot sensation on the skin, but which stops short of causing a burn, says JNLWD project engineer Wesley Burgei.
"We have established the minimum irradiance to cause a sensation and have characterised where thermal injury begins," he says. "But the exact operating irradiance which balances a useful military effect with a conservative margin of safety has not been nailed down yet."
That's something that will have to be done before the weapon is deployed, as too powerful a laser beam could permanently blind someone if fired at their eyes. Weapons that do this are banned under the UN Protocol on Blinding Laser Weapons.
Burgei says it is possible to create a beam that will affect the skin without damaging the cornea, and do so at a wavelength that does not penetrate to the retina "and would therefore be retina safe".
Pentagon researchers say they can create a beam that will affect skin without damaging the cornea
The JNLWD says that tests at the Air Force Research Laboratory's human effectiveness lab have established that the skin heating effect causes no permanent damage - suggesting it may have "military utility". The tests also highlighted areas in need of improvement before troops can use it, says lab manager Semih Kumru - though what those features are has not been revealed.
The proposed system is rifle mounted, with a sight above it and a visible low-power laser beam that the soldier uses to aim the invisible infrared laser. The solid-state laser system is battery-powered, and could become hand-held "in the near future", Burgei says.
The weapon, which has been evolving since 2005, is officially known at the Pentagon as the Thermal Laser System. The US National Institute of Justice, which is also funding the weapon's development in the hope that it may prove useful for the police, refers to it as the IR-Lesslethal device.
The Pentagon already has a large crowd control weapon called the Active Denial System that can heat whole groups of people, causing them to flee. It uses a flat-plate antenna mounted on a truck or aircraft to aim a 2-metre-wide microwave beam at the crowd.
Like all supposedly non-lethal weapons that could be used to control civilians, the Pentagon's new portable weapon is raising concerns. "I'd like to know why they want another advanced pain compliance weapon like this," says Steve Wright, non-lethal weapons analyst at Leeds Metropolitan University in the UK. "Persuading by pain rather than brain - through conversation - has led to push-button torture in the past. If it leaves no mark on the skin how will anyone prove it's been abused?"
Wired | A nonlethal device best known for beating back pirates off the coast of Somalia was deployed by local police in San Diego at political gatherings, and even at a competition to build sand castles, according to a local publication.
“The [Long Range Acoustic Device] was stationed by San Diego County Sheriff deputies at a recent town hall forum hosted by Congresswoman Susan Davis (D-San Diego) in Spring Valley and at a subsequent town hall with Congressman Darrell Issa (R-San Diego),” East Country Magazine reported after reviewing official records. It was also parked at a local sand-building competition along the beach.
Though the Long Range Acoustic Device can be used for hailing, it has also been employed as a weapon, most prominently in 2005 by a cruise ship, which used it to ward off attacking pirates. In fact, the device, which was developed after the bombing of the USS Cole in 2000, is designed precisely for that sort of mission. It can permanently damage hearing, depending on how it’s used.
Deploying the Long Range Acoustic Device to local events has provided ammunition to critics of Police Sheriff Bill Gore, who was the agent-in-charge of the FBI’s infamous 1992 Ruby Ridge siege. In response to questions posed by East Country Magazine about use of the technology, Gore said that officers had the appropriate training and that the device’s use as a deterrent is just a “precaution in case you need it.”
News Scientist | THE Pentagon's enthusiasm for non-lethal crowd-control weapons appears to have stepped up a gear with its decision to develop a microwave pain-infliction system that can be fired from an aircraft.
The device is an extension of its controversial Active Denial System, which uses microwaves to heat the surface of the skin, creating a painful sensation without burning that strongly motivates the target to flee. The ADS was unveiled in 2001, but it has not been deployed owing to legal issues and safety fears.
Nevertheless, the Pentagon's Joint Non-Lethal Weapons Directorate (JNLWD) in Quantico, Virginia, has now called for it to be upgraded. The US air force, whose radar technology the ADS is based on, is increasing its annual funding of the system from $2 million to $10 million.
The transmitting antenna on the current system is 2 metres across, produces a single beam of similar width and is steered mechanically, making it cumbersome. At the heart of the new weapon will be a compact airborne antenna, which will be steered electronically and be capable of generating multiple beams, each of which can be aimed while on the move.
The new antenna will be steered electronically and is capable of generating multiple heat beams
The ADS has been dogged by controversy. Jürgen Altmann, a physicist at Dortmund University in Germany, showed that the microwave beams can cause serious burns at levels not far above those required to repel people. This was verified when a US airman was hospitalised with second-degree burns during testing in April 2007.
The airborne version will not make it any less contentious. "Independent of the mode of production, with this size of antenna the beam will show variations of intensity with distance - not just a simple decrease - up to about 500 metres," says Altmann. Shooting it on the move with any accuracy will be difficult, he adds.
Dave Law, head of the technology division of the JNLWD, says the new antenna will operate at the lowest possible effective power level and will have a sophisticated automated target-tracking system.
In a recent cost-benefit analysis, the US Government Accountability Office rated the ADS worst out of eight non-lethal weapons currently in development.
Shocking Shotgun: Taser's XREP wireless shocking projectile can be fired from 12-gauge shotguns.
Popular Science | Weapons manufacturers don't typically enjoy boasting about a shotgun's non-killing power, unless that manufacturer is Taser International. But even as the leading name in "less-lethal" released a new stun cartridge for 12-gauge shotguns with a range of over 100 feet, some journalists point out that safety and field tests have yet to disclose public results.
The eXtended Range Electronic Projectile (XREP) first surfaced a few years ago as a less-lethal alternative for the Marine Corps, which wanted to use the shotgun cartridge during room-clearing operations to nab potential baddies. The device is a wireless shocking projectile with a max range of 100 feet, or roughly twice the effective range of other 12-gauge less-lethal munitions. Taser is not marketing a shotgun of their own to accompany the round.
Wired's Danger Room notes that Taser International has not revealed the results of field trials using the XREP. That could cause some hesitation for even the most eager would-be buyers, given that Taser weapons have attracted more than their share of controversy in the past. A United Nations committee previously deemed the Taser effect as a form of torture, and none of us are likely to forget "Don't Tase me, bro" any time soon.
Still, Taser has plowed ahead with a full-bore marketing campaign for its next possible successor to the XRED cartridge, during the run-up to its annual conference on July 27. The mysterious X3 device has already begun building its social capital on Facebook and Twitter with messages such as "Check out my color screen. Like a Tele-Tubby … only a little more intense!"
The teases have revealed little actual info, but a Taser press release highlights that the X3 will be the "first multi-shot ECD (electronic control device) capable of simultaneously incapacitating multiple targets." That could put some real scatter in less-lethal shotgun action, but also raises potential safety and abuse questions.
For now, rest assured that the X3 probably won't go off accidentally. A YouTube video shows the device being subjected to electric shocks, and other tests have apparently involved the cartridge "doing 4 foot free-falls on concrete at 20 below," according to a tweet from X3.
Danger Room | Today's Tasers stun their targets for just a few seconds. A new technique using ultra-short electric pulses could allow tomorrow's electroshock weapons to immobilize people for as long as fifteen minutes –- and may one day also be used to destroy tumors.
As I note in my latest New Scientist story, existing Tasers use an electric pulse that lasts a few microseconds, and delivers around .07 Joules of energy. This is sufficiently intense to disrupt nerve cell membranes, effectively paralyzing the neuromuscular system however tough you are. The microsecond pulses are repeated over a five-second cycle. According to Steve Tuttle of Taser International, the effects wear off almost immediately once the cycle finishes; he describes tests in which subjects have been able to carry out a task, such as pushing a specific button, immediately after being Tasered. [Others disagree, and point to all those times when coroners have ruled that the shock weapons contributed to someone's death. -- ed.]
Short-term incapacitation meets police requirements, allowing a suspect to be incapacitated for long enough to make a quick arrest. The U.S. military is looking at a longer keeping people stunned for much longer, however. The Joint Nonlethal Weapons Directorate is looking at a new generation of electroshock weapon that might knock the target down for fifteen minutes with a single ultra-short pulse.
Research is being carried out by the Frank Reidy Research Center for Bioelectrics at Old Dominion University. The Center's mission is to "to increase scientific knowledge and understanding of how electromagnetic fields and ionized gases interact with biological cells." A significant amount of their funding is military; the Center notes that their largest award was $5 million from Air Force Office of Scientific Research.
The key to the technology lies in using short pulses, which can have very different effects than the longer ones. When an electric field is applied to a cell, a charge starts to build up on the cell membranes. After a few microseconds, the charge is so high that holes (or "pores") start to form in the cell wall, an effect called electroporation. This allows material (in particular calcium ions) to pass through, affecting the function of the cell. With shorter pulses there is not enough time to affect the cell. But electroporation can affect the structures within the cell such as the nucleus, known as organelles.
"Because the organelles are much smaller than the cell itself... they reach their maximum charge much more quickly," Center founder Karl H. Schoenbach explains in an article. " Ending the pulse after the organelles are charged up, within a few hundred nanoseconds but before large pores appear in the cell’s own membrane, lets you focus the electric field’s effects on the organelles, such as the nucleus, while leaving the cell membrane relatively untouched. That, in turn, lets you do the complex and varied things medical science is interested in, such as killing tumor cells or triggering an immune system response."
So on the one hand ultra-short pulses can be used to selectively destroy cancerous cells. But they can also produce much more effective stunning effects.
A paper from the Center on Neuromuscular disruption with ultrashort electrical pulses compares 450-nanosecond pulses with multi-microsecond Taser pulses and found that the shorter pulses were more effective for suppressing voluntary movement, and used less energy. Another study found that even shorter, 60-nanosecond pulses could stun rats.
But the most significant is a paper which found that it was possible to incapacitate cells for a prolonged period -- "our study provides experimental evidence that even a single 60-ns pulse at 12 kV/cm can cause a profound and long-lasting (minutes) reduction of the cell membrane resistance (Rm), accompanied by the loss of the membrane potential." The paper says that cells could be prevented from functioning for fifteen minutes. These are early days, but researchers have suggested that a single ultrashort shock could leaving the target immobilized for "tens of minutes" using far less energy than a Taser pulse.
Obviously there are concerns over what other effects ultrashort pulses might have on the body.
"We have been advised by contacts who track the development of this type of technology that the medical and biological effects of such ultra-short electrical shocks in such a weapon are presently unknown," says Angela Wright of Amnesty International. "Stringent testing, before deployment, of the medical effects of such a weapon should take place."
"Studies are being conducted to examine the ion transport mechanisms and the effects on long term cell viability," says David B. Law of the JNLWD. He says that plans for tests on live animals are under way, but declined to comment on when human tests might happen -- if ever.
Associated Press | A new Canadian federal police policy recognizes that stun guns can cause death and restricts their use to defuse threats, officials said Thursday.
Royal Canadian Mounted Police Commissioner William Elliott told members of Parliament's public safety committee that police will no longer use the painful stun guns against suspects who are merely resisting arrest or refusing to cooperate.
"The RCMP's revised (Taser) policy underscores that there are risks associated with the deployment of the device and emphasizes that those risks include the risk of death, particularly for agitated individuals," Elliot said.
The electronic weapons, referred to by police as "conducted energy weapons," incapacitate people through a 50,000-volt jolt of electricity. Police have said stun guns are needed as a non-lethal alternative to firearms.
"Taser" is one brand of the guns, and it is made by U.S. firm Taser International Inc.
Federal police officers across Canada have used their stun guns more than 5,000 times in the last seven years. At least 20 Canadians have died after being shot with a stun gun.
Acceptable stun gun use includes cases that are serious enough to warrant an officer using his actual gun if the stun gun is not effective in calming the suspect, the government policy says.
Officers had previously been instructed that Taser guns are a good way to control suspects in a state of so-called "excited delirium," or in an agitated or delirious state.
Elliot said the term will no longer appear in police manuals.
While police officers are highly trained, "they're not medical experts and we don't think it's fair or reasonable to have policy based on a medical condition or diagnosis," Elliot said.
The federal policy about stun guns was reviewed after a Polish man died in 2007 when police at Vancouver International Airport repeatedly zapped him and pinned him to the floor. The RCMP maintained Robert Dziekanski was in a state of "excited delirium" when they shot him.
International attention and intense criticism of police followed when a bystander released video of the incident. The case is the subject of a public inquiry into police actions.
Amnesty International is among the groups that have urged a ban on the weapons, pending conclusive impartial study.
Tasers, known as "conducted energy" devices, send out high-frequency pulses which can cause a very rapid, dangerous heart rhythm, said senior author Dr. Zian H. Tseng, an assistant clinical professor in cardiology.
SF Gate | The number of in-custody sudden deaths rose dramatically during the first year California law enforcement agencies began using stun guns, raising questions about the safety of the devices, according to a new study at UCSF.
The electronic weapons are intended to be a nonlethal alternative to the gun.
"Tasers are not as safe as thought," said Dr. Byron Lee, one of the cardiologists involved in studying the death rate related to Tasers, the most widely used stun gun. "And if they are used, they should be used with caution."
The researchers analyzed sudden death data from 50 law enforcement agencies in the state that use Tasers. They compared the death rate pre- and post-Taser deployment - analyzing data for five years before each agency began using Tasers and five years afterward.
They found a sixfold increase in sudden deaths during the first year of Taser use - amounting to nearly 6 deaths per 100,000 arrests.
"I didn't expect what we found," said Lee. "I thought we would find no difference in the rate of sudden death. But there was a rather dramatic rise."
A modified version of this laser rifle created to dazzle enemies by the US Air Force has been adapted by the Department of Justice to inflict pain from a distance (Image: US Air Force)
New Scientist | The research arm of the US Department of Justice is working on two portable non-lethal weapons that inflict pain from a distance using beams of laser light or microwaves, with the intention of putting them into the hands of police to subdue suspects.
Like the ADS, the new portable devices will also heat the skin, but will have beams only a few centimetres across. They are designed to elicit what the Pentagon calls a "repel response" - a strong urge to escape from the beam.
A spokesperson for the National Institute for Justice likens the effect of the new devices to that of "blunt trauma" weapons such as rubber bullets, "But unlike blunt trauma devices, the injury should not be present. This research is looking to reduce the injuries to suspects," they say.
Existing blunt trauma weapons can break ribs or even kill, making alternatives welcome. Yet ADS has recorded problems too - out of several thousand tests on human subjects there were two cases of second-degree burns.
Dazzle and burn
The NIJ's laser weapon has been dubbed Personnel Halting and Stimulation Response - PHaSR - and resembles a bulky rifle. It was created in 2005 by a US air force agency to temporarily dazzle enemies (see image, right), but the addition of a second, infrared laser makes it able to heat skin too.
The NIJ is testing the PHaSR in various scenarios, which may include prison situations as well as law enforcement.
The NIJ's portable microwave-based weapon is less developed. Currently a tabletop prototype with a range of less than a metre, a backpack-sized prototype with a range of 15 metres will be ready next year, a spokesperson says.
The truly portable mini-ADS could prove the more useful, as microwaves penetrate clothing better than the infra-red beam, which is most effective on exposed skin. Although the spokesman says: "In LEC [Law Enforcement and Corrections] use there is always a little bit of skin to target."
Torture concerns
The effect of microwave beams on humans has been investigated for years, but there is little publicly available research on the effects of PHaSR-type lasers on humans. The attraction of using a laser is that it can be less bulky than a microwave device.
Human rights groups say that equipping police with such weapons would add to the problems posed by existing "non-lethals" such as Tasers. Security expert Steve Wright at Leeds Metropolitan University describes the new weapons as "torture at the touch of a button".
"We have grave concerns about the deployment and use of any such devices, which have the potential to be used for torture or other ill treatment," says Amnesty International's arms control researcher Helen Hughes, adding that all research into their effects should be made public.
Raw Story |They are marketed as non-lethal weapons that allow police to capture suspects or criminals without causing any permanent harm.
Former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and businessman Bernard Kerik made millions selling the idea to police departments across the country.
But Tasers have killed more than 400 people since 2001, according to a new study commissioned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corp.
Police departments across Canada began banning use of Tasers by their officers after the report found that Tasers deliver more power than the manufacturer says is possible.
It is unknown if U.S. police departments will follow suit.
The study includes a medical analysis that concluded someone shot with a Taser could face as high as a 50 percent chance of cardiac arrest.
The Taser company, however, still says its weapons can’t kill.
“It is unfortunate that false allegations based on scientifically flawed data can create such uncertainty,” Steve Tuttle, a Taser vice president, told The Arizona Republic.
Stories of Taser-related deaths have stacked up over the years, many involving police officers who never realized the harm their Taser could cause.
A man described as “emotionally disturbed” fell to his death after police Tasered him on fire escape. The officers who gave the order took a Glock 9mm from the locker room and shot himself in the head.
Earlier this week, police Tasered a man who had gone into Diabetic shock while driving. The officers later said they felt “extremely bad” about shocking him when they realized he was drunk or high but in need of medical attention.
“Taser’s marketing coup has been to convince consumers that there is such a thing as a gun that won’t kill,” AlterNet reported.
On the Taser Web site, a marketing slogan reads: “Who says safety can’t be stylish?”
Baron Pikes, 21, was Tasered nine times by a police officer in January in Winnfield, Louisiana.
CNN | WINNFIELD, Louisiana — A police officer shocked a handcuffed Baron “Scooter” Pikes nine times with a Taser after arresting him on a cocaine charge.
He stopped twitching after seven, according to a coroner’s report. Soon afterward, Pikes was dead.
Now the officer, since fired, could end up facing criminal charges in Pikes’ January death after medical examiners ruled it a homicide.
Dr. Randolph Williams, the Winn Parish coroner, told CNN the 21-year-old sawmill worker was jolted so many times by the 50,000-volt Taser that he might have been dead before the last two shocks were delivered.
Williams ruled Pikes’ death a homicide in June after extensive study.
Winn Parish District Attorney Christopher Nevils said he will decide on any charges against the ex-officer, Scott Nugent, once a Louisiana State Police report on the case is complete.
“It’s taken several months for this case to even be properly addressed, so one has to wonder, why did it take so long?” said Carol Powell Lexing, a lawyer for the Pikes family. “Obviously, a wrongful death occurred.”
Nugent’s lawyer, Phillip Terrell, said his client followed proper procedure to subdue a man who outweighed him by 100 pounds. But Williams said Pikes was already handcuffed and on the ground when first hit with the Taser, after the 247-pound suspect was slow to follow police orders to get up.
Winnfield, a sleepy lumber town about 100 miles southeast of Shreveport, Louisiana, is best known as the birthplace of legendary Louisiana governors Huey and Earl Long. It’s also about 45 miles northwest of Jena, Louisiana, where a racially charged assault case sparked a September 2007 demonstration by an estimated 15,000 people.
LiveScience | We wield remote controls to turn things on and off, make them advance, make them halt. Ground-bound pilots use remotes to fly drone airplanes, soldiers to maneuver battlefield robots.
LiveScience | ATSUGI, Japan (AP) -- We wield remote controls to turn things on and off, make them advance, make them halt. Ground-bound pilots use remotes to fly drone airplanes, soldiers to maneuver battlefield robots.
Associated Press business writer Yuri Kageyama tries on a headset to be remote-controlled by a technology that Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp., Japan's top phone company, is developing during a demonstration at an NTT research in Atsugi, near Tokyo, Tuesday, Sept. 7, 2005. Called galvanic vestibular stimulation in scientific jargon, it means electricity is messing with the delicate nerve tissues inside the ear to maintain balance and make people move to the left or right against their will. (APPhoto/Itsuo Inouye)
But manipulating humans?
Prepare to be remotely controlled. I was.
Just imagine being rendered the rough equivalent of a radio-controlled toy car.
Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Corp., Japans top telephone company, says it is developing the technology to perhaps make video games more realistic. But more sinister applications also come to mind.
I can envision it being added to militaries' arsenals of so-called "non-lethal'' weapons.
A special headset was placed on my cranium by my hosts during a recent demonstration at an NTT research center. It sent a very low voltage electric current from the back of my ears through my head -- either from left to right or right to left, depending on which way the joystick on a remote-control was moved.
I found the experience unnerving and exhausting: I sought to step straight ahead but kept careening from side to side. Those alternating currents literally threw me off.
The technology is called galvanic vestibular stimulation -- essentially, electricity messes with the delicate nerves inside the ear that help maintain balance.
I felt a mysterious, irresistible urge to start walking to the right whenever the researcher turned the switch to the right. I was convinced -- mistakenly -- that this was the only way to maintain my balance.
The phenomenon is painless but dramatic. Your feet start to move before you know it. I could even remote-control myself by taking the switch into my own hands.
There's no proven-beyond-a-doubt explanation yet as to why people start veering when electricity hits their ear. But NTT researchers say they were able to make a person walk along a route in the shape of a giant pretzel using this technique.
It's a mesmerizing sensation similar to being drunk or melting into sleep under the influence of anesthesia. But it's more definitive, as though an invisible hand were reaching inside your brain.
NTT says the feature may be used in video games and amusement park rides, although there are no plans so far for a commercial product.
Some people really enjoy the experience, researchers said while acknowledging that others feel uncomfortable.
I watched a simple racing-car game demonstration on a large screen while wearing a device programmed to synchronize the curves with galvanic vestibular stimulation. It accentuated the swaying as an imaginary racing car zipped through a virtual course, making me wobbly.
Another program had the electric current timed to music. My head was pulsating against my will, getting jerked around on my neck. I became so dizzy I could barely stand. I had to turn it off.
NTT researchers suggested this may be a reflection of my lack of musical abilities. People in tune with freely expressing themselves love the sensation, they said.
"We call this a virtual dance experience although some people have mentioned it's more like a virtual drug experience,'' said Taro Maeda, senior research scientist at NTT. "I'm really hopeful Apple Computer will be interested in this technology to offer it in their iPod.''
Research on using electricity to affect human balance has been going on around the world for some time.
James Collins, professor of biomedical engineering at Boston University, has studied using the technology to prevent the elderly from falling and to help people with an impaired sense of balance. But he also believes the effect is suited for games and other entertainment.
"I suspect they'll probably get a kick out of the illusions that can be created to give them a more total immersion experience as part of virtual reality,'' Collins said.
The very low level of electricity required for the effect is unlikely to cause any health damage, Collins said. Still, NTT required me to sign a consent form, saying I was trying the device at my own risk.
And risk definitely comes to mind when playing around with this technology.
Timothy Hullar, assistant professor at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Mo., believes finding the right way to deliver an electromagnetic field to the ear at a distance could turn the technology into a weapon for situations where "killing isn't the best solution.''
"This would be the most logical situation for a nonlethal weapon that presumably would make your opponent dizzy,'' he said via e-mail. "If you find just the right frequency, energy, duration of application, you would hope to find something that doesn't permanently injure someone but would allow you to make someone temporarily off-balance.''
Indeed, a small defense contractor in Texas, Invocon Inc., is exploring whether precisely tuned electromagnetic pulses could be safely fired into people's ears to temporarily subdue them.
NTT has friendlier uses in mind.
If the sensation of movement can be captured for playback, then people can better understand what a ballet dancer or an Olympian gymnast is doing, and that could come handy in teaching such skills.
And it may also help people dodge oncoming cars or direct a rescue worker in a dark tunnel, NTT researchers say. They maintain that the point is not to control people against their will.
If you're determined to fight the suggestive orders from the electric currents by clinging to a fence or just lying on your back, you simply won't move.
But from my experience, if the currents persist, you'd probably be persuaded to follow their orders. And I didn't like that sensation. At all.
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