BRKG: US Defense will use DARPA for "Battlefield Illusions"

Arthur C. Clarke once famously
quipped that “any sufficiently advanced
technology is indistinguishable from
magic.” So perhaps it was inevitable
that the Pentagon’s extreme
technology arm would eventually start
acting like magicians — and try to
create illusions on the front lines.

In its new budget, unveiled on Monday,
Darpa introduced a new $4 million
investigation into technologies that will
“manage the adversary’s sensory
perception” in order to “confuse, delay,
inhibit, or misdirect [his] actions.”
Darpa calls the project “Battlefield
Illusion.” Of course.

“The current operational art of human-
sensory battlefield deception is largely
an ad-hoc practice,” the agency sighs as
it lays out the project’s goals. But if
researchers can better understand
“how humans use their brains to
process sensory inputs,” the military
should be able to develop “auditory
and visual” hallucinations that will
“provide tactical advantage for our
forces.”

[link to wired.com]