Telepathic Take Aways

There are some articles circulating about a Pentagon project that involves tons of money, some inventive scientists & so-called 'telepathic helmets'.
The Pentagon has apparently handed over a wad of cash to some neuroscientists at the University of California, to develop a special helmet that can 'read' signals from the brain & then transmit those signals to other nearby helmets. The aim of the project is for soldiers to be able to communicate silently in the midst of the chaos of battle.
At the moment, volunteers are given symbols to memorise. These symbols represent military commands & the volunteers are then asked to think of them while the electrode-fitted cap on their head is hooked up to a computer. The computer then monitors the chemical 'flares' in their brains when they think of the various symbols.
So far the accuracy rate is 45% & is expected to improve. So basically, 45% of the time the guys are thinking "shoot to kill, shoot to kill" & 55% of the time they're thinking "mmmmm pie".
Not bad considering that proliferation of videos on Youtube like this one.

But what a great idea! In fact, I can think of so many practical applications for this technology:
Who needs drive-through when you can just project your order & location to someone at Nandos & have them deliver?
Training your minions with subliminal stimuli will be so much easier & they'll be easier to control in the field.
Inter-species communication could become a reality, meaning that you may just be able to get your dog to retrieve your newspaper without shredding it...

Unfortunately I can also see some serious risks, like how vulnerable a network of soldiers with electrode helmets could be; rolling viruses, electronic surges, disturbing projections that paralyse the 'viewer'.

No doubt, at this point you're reminded of the movie Men Who Star At Goats, staring George Clooney & Ewan McGregor. Me too, since it's a great movie that makes you laugh & leaves you wondering just a little bit...
Which is why the claim that the US military will have telepathic helmets by 2017, is a little far-fetched to me.
I think by then, guys will still be getting confused between the symbol for "drop the bomb & nuke these buggers" & "I need the toilet, where's the bog roll?"
Call me a skeptic, but I don't think that having different guys trying to project the same symbol & using it in combat manoeuvres where heavy weapons, explosives & air strikes are involved, is such a good idea...