Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Corporation is developing a system that is capable of remotely controlling a human’s movements using galvanic vestibular stimulation.

The prototype system uses a headset and remote control device to deliver measured electrical pulses to the subject’s inner ear. Based on the inputs from the remote control, the current ‘influences’ the subject to walk to the left or the right by disrupting the sense of balance. The effect is far from precise, but NTT researchers claim to be able to make a person walk along a route in the shape of a giant pretzel using the device.

Proposed applications for the technology range from adding sensations of realism to virtual-reality video games to preventing elderly people from falling. Other potential uses include directing the movements of rescue workers in dark spaces or, if the effect could be projected from a distance, non-lethal weapons.