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!"Ads_xl=0;Ads_yl=0;Ads_xp='';Ads_yp='';Ads_xp1='';Ads_yp1='';Ads_par='';Ads_cnturl='';Ads_prf='page=article';Ads_channels='RON_P6_IMU';Ads_wrd='biotech,tech';Ads_kid=0;Ads_bid=0;Ads_sec=0; Remote Control for Humans? Log in/Create an Account | Top | 134 comments | Search Discussion Display Options Threshold: -1: 134 comments 0: 129 comments 1: 96 comments 2: 61 comments 3: 26 comments 4: 15 comments 5: 9 comments Flat Nested No Comments Threaded Oldest First Newest First Highest Scores First Oldest First (Ignore Threads) Newest First (Ignore Threads) The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way. Sure... (Score:2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 25, @10:29PM (#13877638) I guess it could be used as a weapon... if you could convince everyone to wear the required head-gear all the time... [ Reply to ThisRe:Sure... by thej1nx (Score:1) Tuesday October 25, @10:59PMRe:Sure... by bsartist (Score:2) Tuesday October 25, @11:47PMRe:Sure... by MrRuslan (Score:2) Tuesday October 25, @11:30PMRe:Sure... by Anonymous Coward (Score:1) Wednesday October 26, @12:11AMAbout Those Foil Hats by queenb**ch (Score:2) Wednesday October 26, @12:24AMIt's official, humans are property. by elucido (Score:1) Wednesday October 26, @12:53AM1 reply beneath your current threshold. women have had this for years. (Score:5, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 25, @10:29PM (#13877639) they're called breasts. [ Reply to ThisRe:women have had this for years. by CODiNE (Score:2) Tuesday October 25, @11:19PM Re:women have had this for years. (Score:5, Funny) by LiquidMind (150126) on Tuesday October 25, @11:23PM (#13877879) us guys have one too [carcino.gen.nz]! [ Reply to This | ParentRe:women have had this for years. by bclark (Score:3) Tuesday October 25, @11:49PMRe:women have had this for years. by Theremin Maestro (Score:1) Wednesday October 26, @12:43AM Re:women have had this for years. (Score:5, Funny) by HermanAB (661181) on Tuesday October 25, @11:12PM (#13877834) A remote control to control breasts? That is called a diamond, but be warned, it seems to wear out over time, it is not forever... [ Reply to This | Parent Re:women have had this for years. (Score:5, Funny) by zxnos (813588) <zxnoss@gmail.com> on Tuesday October 25, @11:18PM (#13877857) you need to recharge the batteries in the remote with additional diamonds, birthstones, gold, silver, china, etc... just like any other rechargeable battery, the charge is shorter each time... [ Reply to This | ParentRe:women have had this for years. by th0rium (Score:1) Tuesday October 25, @11:35PM2 replies beneath your current threshold. "Nothing for you to see here. Please move along." (Score:1) by daviqh (906581) on Tuesday October 25, @10:29PM (#13877640) "Nothing for you to see here. Please move along." That's odd...I always thought remote control humans were impossible. Besides, my voodoo dolls work just fine for the time being. [ Reply to ThisRe:"Nothing for you to see here. Please move along by MrRuslan (Score:2) Tuesday October 25, @11:27PM Old news (Score:5, Informative) by krautcanman (609042) on Tuesday October 25, @10:30PM (#13877641) This is old news from a few months back: http://www.forbes.com/business/innovators/2005/08/ 04/technology-remote-control-humans_cx_lh_0804remo tehuman.html [forbes.com] [ Reply to ThisRe:Old news by toonerh (Score:2) Tuesday October 25, @10:33PMconfirmed dupe by Jucius Maximus (Score:3) Tuesday October 25, @10:36PMRe:confirmed dupe by SeventyBang (Score:2) Tuesday October 25, @11:24PMRe:Old news by AndroidCat (Score:1) Wednesday October 26, @12:36AM1 reply beneath your current threshold. 404...conspiracy theories begin! (Score:5, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 25, @10:30PM (#13877644) Obligatory Family Guy quote follows:Stewie: Good day, shopkeep.Chris: Good day shopkeep, I require a hand-operated buzzsaw capable of cutting through a human sternum.Shopkeep: What?Chris: It's for a school project, I'm some sort of student sent here for... oh blast what the devil do they study? uh... Latin class.Shopkeep: Uhh, sorry kid, I can't sell power tools to minors.Chris: Now look here you gore-bellied codpiece. Allow me to purchase the provisions I demand or I'll form your blue collar into a red one and-Who the deuce are you? No I don't have any spare change. Where the hell would I keep it? In my diaper? Get out of here you hobo. Oh bloody hell, is this thing still on? [ Reply to ThisRe:404...conspiracy theories begin! by da3dAlus (Score:2) Tuesday October 25, @10:55PM1 reply beneath your current threshold.Re:404...conspiracy theories begin! by chrome (Score:3) Tuesday October 25, @11:21PMRe:404...conspiracy theories begin! by genooma (Score:1) Tuesday October 25, @11:29PM1 reply beneath your current threshold. Disturbing implications indeed... (Score:5, Funny) by Fermatprime (883412) on Tuesday October 25, @10:30PM (#13877648) "An interesting read with perhaps some disturbing implications."I'll say - what if you lose it? [ Reply to ThisRe:Disturbing implications indeed... by beaso (Score:1) Tuesday October 25, @10:51PMRe:Disturbing implications indeed... by uncoveror (Score:2) Tuesday October 25, @11:58PM Nothing New (Score:5, Funny) by lenmaster (598077) on Tuesday October 25, @10:33PM (#13877662) Wives had had this for their husbands for years now. [ Reply to ThisRe:Nothing New by BCW2 (Score:1) Tuesday October 25, @10:42PM1 reply beneath your current threshold.1 reply beneath your current threshold. Wetware hacking?? (Score:3, Informative) by yamamushi (903955) <<yamamushi> <at> <gmail.com>> on Tuesday October 25, @10:33PM (#13877665) (http://www.aetheralresearch.com/) Sounds a little too much like,http://www.hackcanada.com/homegrown/wetware/ [hackcanada.com]to me. However, its not so much remote, you have to be sitting right in front of the device, literally wearing it. But it opens your eyes to the implications. [ Reply to This my day (Score:4, Funny) by d1a1v1e (843126) on Tuesday October 25, @10:33PM (#13877667) Back in my day we used to use remote controles on cars. [ Reply to This1 reply beneath your current threshold. This reminds me of... (Score:3, Funny) by jgartin (177959) on Tuesday October 25, @10:33PM (#13877669) That episode of Star Trek where those aliens steal Spock's brain. Scotty rigs up a remote control for Spock's body and they all beam down to the planet to search for it. Just goes to show you that all important modern tech was first shown on Star Trek. [ Reply to ThisRe:This reminds me of... by dreimer (Score:1) Tuesday October 25, @11:23PMAnd yet again by zippthorne (Score:2) Tuesday October 25, @11:33PM My word... (Score:4, Funny) by mozingod (738108) on Tuesday October 25, @10:34PM (#13877673) Imagine the implications of this with the adult entertainment industry! Now that's entertainment! [ Reply to This1 reply beneath your current threshold. question (Score:4, Funny) by NoGuffCheck (746638) on Tuesday October 25, @10:34PM (#13877675) Does it have a volume control? Can you calobrate it to my girlfriend? How soon can you get it to me? and here's all my money! [ Reply to This Head movements (Score:5, Funny) by saskboy (600063) on Tuesday October 25, @10:35PM (#13877678) (http://www.abandonedstuff.com/ | Last Journal: Tuesday October 25, @10:38PM) "Better get a second layer on those tinfoil hats!"Or just don't put on the headgear that controls you.Either way, I'm not going to work at any job that requires me to wear this remote control, unless it's wireless. Wearing headgear all day with a wire attached would probably give me a sore neck by causing restricted head movements. [ Reply to ThisRe:Head movements by einhverfr (Score:2) Wednesday October 26, @12:33AM Obligatory... (Score:3, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 25, @10:36PM (#13877681) I, for one, welcome our new inner-ear remote-control overlords. [ Reply to ThisRe:Obligatory... by c_forq (Score:1) Wednesday October 26, @12:23AM1 reply beneath your current threshold. That would have been handy... (Score:2, Funny) by Funakoshi (925826) on Tuesday October 25, @10:36PM (#13877683) A mute button for the folks would have been handy when I was a teenager...I'd be a much better guitar player today... [ Reply to This This could be taken to an extreme... (Score:1) by Daedalus-Ubergeek (600951) on Tuesday October 25, @10:47PM (#13877729) I mean just wait till the BSDM community gets hold of this! [ Reply to This RFC 1149-2 - IPviaH? (Score:1) by slashbob22 (918040) on Tuesday October 25, @10:48PM (#13877732) Firstly, why would a Telco be developing this technology? It doesn't appear to further their business. Then it dawned on me. With Avian Flu concerns, sending packets via that method is dangerous RFC 1149 [faqs.org]. Obviously if the Telco's controlled humans, they could deliver packets with them via a maximum of 6 hops (six degrees of separation).I for one welcome our new communication specification. Long live IPviaH. [ Reply to ThisSDRP - Six Degrees Routing Protocol by SpectralDesign (Score:1) Tuesday October 25, @11:53PM VAPOR-FUQIN-WARE (Score:4, Funny) by Khyber (864651) <khyberkitsune@gmail.com> on Tuesday October 25, @10:48PM (#13877733) (Last Journal: Friday October 21, @03:25AM) Sony had something similar, but not as capable, as this a year or so back. And it's still vaporware, unless "They're working out bugs."Forget the second tinfoil layer, people. Be content in the fact that until you willingly strap a device to your head, you're safe.Ignore the fact that I'm drunk right now, but I will *NEVER* put one of these things on my head. I'll stick with "subliminal messages thru sneaky frames included in films. [ Reply to ThisRe:VAPOR-FUQIN-WARE by slashbob22 (Score:2) Tuesday October 25, @10:53PMRe:VAPOR-FUQIN-WARE by bradkittenbrink (Score:2) Tuesday October 25, @11:06PMRe:VAPOR-FUQIN-WARE by kesuki (Score:2) Wednesday October 26, @12:38AM there's old analog tech that does it better... (Score:2, Insightful) by wherrera (235520) on Tuesday October 25, @10:49PM (#13877739) Consider the effects of a gun at your back, or even the slave driver's whip :-/ [ Reply to ThisRe:there's old analog tech that does it better... by Reziac (Score:2) Wednesday October 26, @12:28AM Related Article (Score:3, Informative) by SpaceAdmiral (869318) on Tuesday October 25, @10:53PM (#13877752) Scientific American had a very interesting article on the history of this sort of thing [scientificamerican.com]. Unfortunately, you probably have to pay for that article if you don't already subscribe. [ Reply to This How about for dogs? (Score:1) by Bemmu (42122) <lomise.uta@fi> on Tuesday October 25, @10:55PM (#13877759) (http://www.bemmu.com/ | Last Journal: Friday August 22, @11:01AM) I would like a remote control for dogs so I wouldn't have to bother walking them every morning. Or more like autopilot. [ Reply to This Nice... (Score:1) by pyro jackelope (771283) on Tuesday October 25, @10:59PM (#13877776) "The developers hope to use this with video games and other entertainment, but it might also be used as a weapon to disable people." Well, no crap...hackers would have a field day with this. [ Reply to This Wha--?! (Score:1) by werewolf1031 (869837) <.werewolfentertainment. .at. .yahoo.com.> on Tuesday October 25, @11:00PM (#13877780) (http://www.darkicon.com/werewolf) Daaaamn, and here I thought I was simply drunk and listening to headphones...You mean that's NOT Corrosion of Conformity in my head?! [ Reply to This Implanted Feraday cage (Score:1) by Tekoneiric (590239) on Tuesday October 25, @11:01PM (#13877782) (Last Journal: Wednesday January 12, @02:39PM) How about implanting a thin mesh of titanium wire under the skin to protect you. It'd be better if it were a superconductor though. Get sent to the electric chair? No problem! [ Reply to This weaponization unlikely (Score:4, Insightful) by EngMedic (604629) on Tuesday October 25, @11:01PM (#13877785) (http://westernesse.net/) 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. [ Reply to ThisRe:weaponization unlikely by slavemowgli (Score:3) Tuesday October 25, @11:42PM1 reply beneath your current threshold.Re:weaponization unlikely by adamruck (Score:2) Wednesday October 26, @12:02AMCompletely likely given enough time by headkase (Score:2) Wednesday October 26, @12:23AMRe:weaponization very likely by EngMedic (Score:2) Wednesday October 26, @12:00AMBut then by einhverfr (Score:2) Wednesday October 26, @12:37AM2 replies beneath your current threshold. Already exists (Score:2) by wombatmobile (623057) on Tuesday October 25, @11:01PM (#13877786) ...a remote control for manipulating humans through electrical stimulation of the inner ear nerves.Women have used a similar technique to control men for thousands of years, but they don't focus on the ears. [ Reply to This Remote Control? (Score:2, Insightful) by faqmaster (172770) <jones.tm@gmaiPERIODl.com minus punct> on Tuesday October 25, @11:02PM (#13877790) (http://antidefactualization.blogspot.com/ | Last Journal: Friday April 01, @12:09PM) We should get the whole 'local control' thing down first.---Aria Giovanni for President! [cafepress.com] [ Reply to This How to get infinite funding (Score:1) by pbaer (833011) on Tuesday October 25, @11:04PM (#13877800) Add multiple restraining straps that can only be removed by a key, fingerprint, iris scan combo. Voila you can now recieve defense funding. With that funding find a way to insert it in a person and control them remotely through satellite broadcasts no matter where they are. Then add a self-discruct/kill this person NOW command. Now market this as an upper and get lots of people to implant it in themselves. Bam world-domination! [ Reply to This Sounds like fun. (Score:1) by Dr. Mystery (896982) on Tuesday October 25, @11:07PM (#13877816) So buggy games all of a sudden become deadly. Fun! [ Reply to This ipod? (Score:1) by halalalikwan (920395) on Tuesday October 25, @11:07PM (#13877817) They say they want apple to implement this into ipod? Good idea. Put it on shuffle and shuffle out into rush hour traffic. Woot! [ Reply to This