The secretive US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is developing a device that will plug directly into the brain and transmit images, bypassing the optical system altogether, according to reports.

Under the guise of developing a “cortical modem”, to enable blind people to see, DARPA researchers say that the device may also eventually replace all virtual and augmented reality technology.

Projects such as Google Glass and the Oculus Rift may be superceded by DARPA’s program which aims to create high-definition images directly within the human brain, according to researchers.

Much like in the action film, the Matrix, the device would be powered by a spinal implant.

Plans for the project were revealed at the Biology Is Technology conference in Silicon Valley last week, with boffins unveiling short term plans to create a small device that will deliver images to the brain without the need for wearing glasses or a helmet.

Reports noted that DARPA was described onstage at the gathering as a “friendly, but somewhat crazy, rich uncle”.

Further information was provided within the pages of transhumanist magazine Humanity Plus.

“The short term goal of the project is the development of a device about the size of two stacked nickels with a cost of goods on the order of $10 which would enable a simple visual display via a direct interface to the visual cortex with the visual fidelity of something like an early LED digital clock,” the publication reported.

The project is being overseen by DARPA’s Biological Technologies Office, which was founded a year ago with the brief of devising new technologies at the intersection of biology and physical science.

The office has been focusing on transhumanist projects geared towards improving the performance of soldiers on the battlefield’ performance, developing biological systems for national security purposes, and, it claims, the future well-being of humanity.

Other dystopian sounding projects being worked on include insect cyborgs, exoskeletons and life-sized robot elephants, according to the H+ report.

So far testing on the cortical modem has been limited to animals, primarily fish.

As Infowars has previously noted, DARPA has been working on variations of this project for years, decades in fact. And given that the Pentagon war machine is spear-heading it, with $70m of funding, one must seriously question why the DoD suddenly gives a damn about the well-being of humanity, including blind people and everyday Americans with brain disorders such as Alzheimer’s.

Last year, reports emerged of DARPA developing brain chips that will implant or remove specific memories from a subject, a prospect some may deem chilling given DARPA’s previous advocacy of “authentication microchips” and electronic tattoos that can read a person’s mind.

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Steve Watson is a London based writer and editor for Alex Jones’ Infowars.com, and Prisonplanet.com. He has a Masters Degree in International Relations from the School of Politics at The University of Nottingham, and a Bachelor Of Arts Degree in Literature and Creative Writing from Nottingham Trent University.

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