The US Army is ramping up the development of technology that is “making science fiction into reality” as Dr. John Parmentola, Director of their Research and Laboratory Management, puts it.

The research includes regenerating body parts on “nano-scaffolding,” telepathy through electronic impulses in the scalp, and self-aware virtual photorealistic soldiers that can be deployed in the battlefield through “quantum ghost imaging.” To test these they want to use them into a massively multi-player online games as an experimental laboratory to see if they’re good enough to convince humans that they’re actually human, that can think on their own, have emotions and talk in local slang.

Other projects:

• A project to erase bad memories, which will be critical in helping soldiers with psychological damage.
• Devices that will translate one solider’s thoughts into electrical signals that can be beamed to other soliders, to help in stealth operations.
• Growing back body parts, both internal organs and limbs (Parmentola said researchers are not far away from this), using molecular-sized particles that act as nano-scaffolding for the human cells to grow, dissolving after the organ has regenerated.