History Main / BrainComputerInterface

* The skin of the advanced Cylons in ''Series/BattlestarGalactica2003'' is light-sensitive. If they have to use primitive fiber-optic cables, they can (painfully) insert that cable into their forearm to interface with computers (but they have to [[{{Squick}} make an incision first]]). Typically, on their own ships, they can interface with their own ships by [[UnusualUserInterface putting their hands in a stream of luminous water called the "datastream"]]. It's unclear if there are electrical or biochemical transmitters to go with the light-based data connection, but it [[RuleOfCool sure looks cool]], especially with nearby displays that [[MatrixRainingCode show oddly familiar data glyphs in a falling pattern]]. It helps that they're {{Artificial Human}}s.

* In ''WebOriginal/OrionsArm'', most bionts have Direct Neural Interfaces or [=DNIs=].

* In ''Series/RedDwarf'', in a TV episode and expanded for the {{Novelization}}, the computer game "Better Than Life" works on this principle -- terminally addictive total virtual reality.

* The Creator/DeanKoontz novel ''Literature/{{Midnight}}'' features people who are mutating in bizarre ways. A 'popular' mutation is growing a computer interface, and when one such person dies the computer freaks out and starts 'screaming' about missing the rest of it. Another person melds with his car in a similar way.

* The Creator/DeanKoontz novel ''Midnight'' features people who are mutating in bizarre ways. A 'popular' mutation is growing a computer interface, and when one such person dies the computer freaks out and starts 'screaming' about missing the rest of it. Another person melds with his car in a similar way.

** ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamTheWitchFromMercury'' heavily involves the GUND technology, cyborg prosthetics designed to help with life in space, and its militarized counterpart the GUND-Arms (also known as, as you can expect, "Gundam") attempting to use the same tech to interface people to giant robots. Unfortunately, while this does allow the pilot to bring out unprecedented strength from a mobile suit and enables the use of far superior AttackDrones compared to conventional systems, it's also very, very unsafe. The engineers of the Vanadis Institute were still in the middle of figuring out how to draw a decent amount of power without ''frying the pilot's brain'' when the GUND-Arms tech was declared illegal due to, well, all the fried brains.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Shadowrun}}'' and nearly every work of {{Cyberpunk}} has the datajack, a port or wire usually somewhere on the side of the head to hook up to a computer. A cyberpunk character who can't "jack in" with a port in their head is not trying hard enough.

** In ''TabletopGame/{{Cyberpunk}} 2.0.2.0.'', at least, this includes the possibility of using chips to know abilities you don't know. However, it's just useful to be a JackOfAllTrades.

* ''Franchise/{{Gundam}}'' shows taking place in the Universal Century have the Quasi-Psycommu system, which was meant to allow a normal human being to mimic the ElectronicTelepathy of the standard Psycommu, which required a Newtype to use. It was partially successful, allowing normal humans to thought control wire-guided AttackDrones, but very inefficient and unstable, meaning it was ultimately scrapped.

* ''Literature/RebuildWorld'': Not only omnipresent, but takes different forms.
** Akira is a type of DifferentlyPoweredIndividual with a wireless interface via {{Transhuman}} BioAugmentation from the Old World {{Precursors}}. They all had the ability, but it's rare now and the MegaCorp around [[TheyWouldCutYouUp would experiment on or even dissect one]], or just use them in SuperhumanTrafficking. The main things it's used for are AugmentedReality (including Akira seeing his VirtualSidekick Alpha), and HollywoodHacking. It allows for ElectronicTelepathy with A.I. and other connectors, increases ability to process information, and allows for an equivalent to BulletTime at the cost of mental fatigue ([[CastFromHitpoints and brain damage]]). Alpha also eventually connects Akira into his EverythingSensor through this to give him a sixth sense that feels like vibrations.
** PoweredArmor generally has two modes of operation, matching the user's movements, or scanning the user's brain to start moving ''before the wearer.'' A later set of armor Akira gets even gives sense of touch through its gloves, which Alpha uses to [[PowerPerversionPotential simulate him groping her chest]] to tease him.
** Someone who's a FullConversionCyborg like Kain or Nelia, can physically plug themselves directly into AutomatedAutomobiles or MiniMecha to drive them much more effectively than a normal human, using its sensors as their own senses.

* Multiple variants appear in the ''LightNovel/SwordArtOnline''/''Literature/AccelWorld'' universe.
** [=NerveGears=] are bulky, head-concealing helmets that use some kind of microwave transmitter to intercept signals between the brain and the body, providing the user with a perfect virtual reality environment in a process called [=FullDive=]. First appeared in 2022.
** [=AmuSpheres=] are visor-like devices that are essentially a far more compact [=NerveGear=] with significant improvements in user safety. For that reason, the two are fully inter-compatible. Appeared sometime during 2023.
** The Medicuboid is a medical device used for terminal patients that not only allows them a higher quality of life through VR, but also uses stronger electromagnets than [=NerveGears=] to stop spinal reflexes, making it an effective alternative to traditional anesthesia.
** Brain Implant Chips are small devices permanently installed beneath the dura mater. They were the first devices to feature AugmentedReality in the form of an UnusualUserInterface where the user uses hand gestures to manipulate interface elements that only he can see but are also illegal due to the risk of brain hacking and exam cheating. [[spoiler:It also hides the user from Brain Burst matching lists but at a cost: if BB is uninstalled, the chip dissolves into the cerebrospinal fluid.]]
** The [=NeuroLinker=] is the legal successor of the BIC: a small, choker-like device worn around the neck that provides both AugmentedReality and [=FullDive=]. Unlike the BIC, [=NeuroLinkers=] are completely non-invasive and can be taken off with no ill effects. Completely ubiquitous by 2046.

* In ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'', [[Characters/MarvelComicsOttoOctavius Doctor Octopus]] uses one of these to control his mechanical arms.

* In ''ComicBook/{{Superman}}'' continuities where [[Characters/SupermanBrainiacCharacter Brainiac]] isn't a robot himself, this is what the diodes on his head are used for.

** ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'': One episode features a guest character with a data port behind her ear, which she can use to bypass security systems. The dialogue makes it sound as though they're relatively freely available but often very expensive (unless you want the ''cheap'' tech directly connected to your brain). It shows up again in a later episode on a member of the [[TheSyndicate Orion Syndicate]]. In both cases, the interfaces are very useful for getting into secure systems and data, but the drawbacks include nasty physical pain from being "spiked" by security features designed to counter just such breaches, to the point where the users risk permanent damage, paralysis, or even death. It's implied that the combination of their use for breaching security barriers and the associated dangers are the main reason that such implants are mostly used by criminals (and thus have a stigma attached to them).

*** Data is able to connect to the Borg mainframe by wiring himself into the assimilated Picard's Borg implants in "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS3E26S4E1TheBestOfBothWorlds The Best of Both Worlds, Part II]]." With this direct connection Data is able to shut down the Borg, ending the threat when the shut down command activates the ship's self destruct mechanism.

*** Geordi La Forge's visor is an EverythingSensor that feeds information directly into his brain, often said to be more sensitive than the standard tricorder. He was born blind and was still blind without them, which makes this almost a DisabilitySuperpower. It's shown that the pre-existing implants placed in his temples allow him limited forms of computer interface, with one episode allowing him to control a hazardous environment probe as though it was his own body. In ''Film/StarTrekFirstContact'', he moves on to using [[ElectronicEyes cybernetic ocular implants]].

*** Data is directly connected to the ''Enterprise'' computer by Commander Riker in the episode "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS5E5Disaster Disaster]] in order to stabalize anti-matter containment. This inspires [=LaForge=] and Data to launch a project to enable Data to directly connect to the main computer in emergency situations in the episode "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS6E8AFistfulOfDatas A Fistful of Datas]]. During testing, though, the interface malfunctions, leading to a whole series of unintended consequences throughout the ship.

*** Data is directly connected to the ''Enterprise'' computer by Commander Riker in the episode "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS5E5Disaster Disaster]] in order to stabalize anti-matter containment. Later in the episode "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS6E8AFistfulOfDatas A Fistful of Datas]] LaForge and Data launch a project to enable Data to directly connect to the main computer in emergency situations. During testing, though, the interface malfunctions, leading to a whole series of unitended consequences throughout the ship.

** In another episode, Tom Paris gets too close to an alien shuttle with a neural interface.

* ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'': One episode features a guest character with a data port behind her ear, which she can use to bypass security systems. The dialogue makes it sound as though they're relatively freely available but often very expensive (unless you want the ''cheap'' tech directly connected to your brain). It shows up again in a later episode on a member of the [[TheSyndicate Orion Syndicate]]. In both cases, the interfaces are very useful for getting into secure systems and data, but the drawbacks include nasty physical pain from being "spiked" by security features designed to counter just such breaches, to the point where the users risk permanent damage, paralysis, or even death. It's implied that the combination of their use for breaching security barriers and the associated dangers are the main reason that such implants are mostly used by criminals (and thus have a stigma attached to them).
* ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' has Geordi La Forge's visor, which is an EverythingSensor that feeds information directly into his brain, often said to be more sensitive than the standard tricorder. He was born blind and was still blind without them, which makes this almost a DisabilitySuperpower. It's shown that the pre-existing implants placed in his temples allow him limited forms of computer interface, with one episode allowing him to control a hazardous environment probe as though it was his own body. In ''Film/StarTrekFirstContact'', he moves on to using [[ElectronicEyes cybernetic ocular implants]].
* ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'':
** In the [[Recap/StarTrekVoyagerS7E23Endgame finale]], Janeway returns from decades in the future to change the present, and she is implanted with a standard issue neural computer interface from the future.

* ''LightNovel/RebuildWorld'': Not only omnipresent, but takes different forms.

* Multiple variants appear in the ''LightNovel/SwordArtOnline''/''LightNovel/AccelWorld'' universe.

* ''Literature/SpaceAcademyDropouts'': Vance Turbo has one of these that allows him to instantly communicate with Trish, the ship's AI. They're implied to be uncommon but not especially noteworthy among crew.

* In ''Franchise/GhostInTheShell'', a number of characters, including the Major, have ports implanted onto their bodies, typically at the back of the lower neck/upper shoulders that allow a direct connection between the brain and virtual reality; Batou and Ishikawa both use said ports to ''[[MindRape override movement through the brain and temporarily disable people]]''. In the ''[[Anime/GhostInTheShellStandAloneComplex Stand Alone Complex]]'' series, we get a glimpse of what the internet looks like from within.
** The external ports are part of what the series refers to as a cyber-brain, a complex series of interfaces connecting directly to the brain. The external ports are mostly used for high bandwith and/or more secure connections while virtually every character has a wireless connection as well. The sheer ubiquity of the technology, at least in Japan, is what makes skilled hackers like the Puppetmaster, the Laughing Man or the Major herself so potentially dangerous.

** ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamIronBloodedOrphans'' features the Alaya-Vijnana System, [[BodyHorror spinal implants]] that allow the user to connect directly with a mobile suit to improve reaction time and spatial awareness. It's an interface that grows with the pilot, so it has to be put in when they are [[ChildSoldiers extremely young]], and the procedure has a high rate of failure, generally resulting in spinal injuries, para- or quadriplegia, or even death. While the implants are severely taboo on Earth (to the point where most people treat those with implants as if they aren't even human anymore), less ethical groups like the [[PrivateMilitaryContractors Chryse Guard Security]] and [[SpacePirates Brewers]] will "adopt" kids and force them to undergo the surgery, abandoning them on the streets if the process fails. [[spoiler:In the climax of the first season, after Ein Dalton's body is mangled beyond repair by Mikazuki, he agrees to a procedure that hooks his brain directly into a SuperPrototype dubbed the "Graze Ein", meaning he effectively '''is''' the Mobile Suit.]]
*** The show goes on to reveal that there are significant limiters in place to protect the pilot's brain, but this is seemingly dependent on the user; in one episode, Mikazuki's default settings for the Barbatos are so high that when another member of Tekkadan tries to pilot the machine it overloads his brain and renders him temporarily comatose. [[spoiler:Three times during the series (versus the Graze Ein, versus the Hashmal, and during the final battle), Mikazuki deliberately disables the limiters to get maximum performance out of the Barbatos, which results in his losing the use of parts of his body (his right eye and arm the first time, his right leg the second time), though when he's hooked into the system, they function just fine. In the last instance, he overclocks the system when he's already mortally wounded, meaning his Gundam seemingly keeps fighting for a few minutes before his enemies cut open the cockpit and realize that he's already dead.]]

* ''Anime/MartianSuccessorNadesico'' achieves this effect with {{Nanomachines}} allowing the pilot to interface directly with the mecha. These are also the control medium for larger military vehicles and a lot of civilian equipment in the Martian colonies. For once, there are no major downsides (it's the ''other'' nanomachines you have to look out for), and it is in fact relatively easy to get the nanomachine injection if you're already in the military.
* In ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'', the Eva units are controlled with a direct neural interface with their pilots, via the LCL and the A10 nerve clips (those joysticks are just for fine manipulation and weapons control which are properly not even necessary with a high enough sync-rate). Side effects may include [[{{Synchronization}} sympathetic pain and injuries in direct proportion to the synchro-rate]], the Evas going into sudden [[UnstoppableRage unstoppable rampages]], being a helplessly immobile and vulnerable sitting duck at very low synchro-rates, or total [[MemeticMutation tangification]] due to a ''very high'' synchro-rate. Reasons #527, 528, and 529 why it sucks to be an Eva pilot.

** Akira is a type of DifferentlyPoweredIndividual with a wireless interface via {{Transhuman}} BioAugmentation from the Old World {{Precursors}}. They all had the ability, but it's rare now and the MegaCorp around [[TheyWouldCutYouUp would experiment on or even dissect one]], or just use them in SuperhumanTrafficking. The main things it's used for are AugmentedReality (including Akira seeing his VirtualSidekick Alpha), and HollywoodHacking. It allows for {{Telepathy}} with A.I. and other connectors, increases ability to process information, and allows for an equivalent to BulletTime at the cost of mental fatigue ([[CastFromHitpoints and brain damage]]). Alpha also eventually connects Akira into his EverythingSensor through this to give him a sixth sense that feels like vibrations.

* In ''Anime/{{Robotech}}'' and the source material for the second saga (namely ''Anime/SuperDimensionCavalrySouthernCross''), this is one of the reasons the Bioroid are so hard to take down -- being thought-controlled, they're far nimbler than the human mechs they’re facing, and the multiple redundancies in the system mean the only swift way to take one down is SnipingTheCockpit.
** In Jack [=McKinney=]'s tie-in novels, Earth mecha have a similar system, the Thinking Cap. Said system is not present in the series, as shown in all sagas (where the control systems are seen multiple times) and outright stated in the second saga (when the traditional controls are contrasted with the Bioroid's).

* In ''Film/Saturn3'', brain stem interfaces are placed in all human "instructors" of the Demi-god series of robots, allowing direct connection via radio waves (precursor to bluetooth) to upload instructions/training. Apparently, they are kept in those who wash out of the training program, allowing the insane Captain Benson to take the place of the legitimate operator. As a result, the robot Hector, whose brain consists of living tissue, takes on his insanity and lust for Alex. Later, Hector kills Benson and implants the interface in Alex's partner Adam, not to put anything into his head, ''but to take something out.''

* Telepathy runs computers in ''Literature/TheCulture''. More specifically, super advanced A.I.s run the computers and neural interfaces are simply the fastest way to speak to the A.I.s. There's also the mental images used to control the biological implants and drug glands.

* Most humans are fitted with a neural implant at birth in ''Literature/TheHistoryOfTheGalaxy'', which is used to translate thoughts into wireless signals. They're mainly used for identification and appliance control, but also used to enter virtual reality. Some people voluntarily (and some not so voluntarily) undergo implantation of additional implants that, effectively, turn them into [[TheCracker hackers]] that don't need a computer. They can even access a person's neural implant and fry his or her brain. Want to use a gun on them? Better use an ancient one that shoot bullets and has no electronics. Regular EM guns with computer chips inexplicably stop working when faced with a "cybreaker".
* ''Literature/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy'': Infinidum Enterprise's Computer Terminals in the Hitchhiker's Guide buildings. There is a quote explaining how they're not a 'clunky typewriter in front of a television set', but in fact a brain-computer interface thing.

* An ex-military space pilot in Katherine Kerr's ''Literature/PolarCityBlues'' has a (sealed-over) port in her head from interfacing with the ships she flew.

* ''Literature/SpaceAcademyDropouts'': Vance Turbo has one of these that allows him to instantly communicate with Trish, the ship’s AI. They’re implied to be uncommon but not especially noteworthy among crew.
* ''Literature/TheStarchildTrilogy'' has a very early example (from two decades before {{Cyberpunk}} became a genre). Unusually located directly on the forehead, "communion plates" are how the most advanced technicians work with the [[MasterComputer Planning Computer]].

* In Scott Westerfeld's ''Literature/{{Uglies}}'' series, the Specials have this, as well as in the fourth book, ''Extras''. In ''Extras'', everyone has these.

* The skin of the advanced Cylons in ''Series/BattlestarGalactica2003'' is light-sensitive. If they have to use primitive fiber-optic cables, they can (painfully) insert that cable into their forearm to interface with computers (but they have to [[{{Squick}} make an incision first]]). Typically, on their own ships, they can interface with their own ships by putting their hands in a stream of luminous water called the "datastream". It's unclear if there are electrical or biochemical transmitters to go with the light-based data connection, but it [[RuleOfCool sure looks cool]], especially with nearby displays that [[MatrixRainingCode show oddly familiar data glyphs in a falling pattern]]. It helps that they're {{Artificial Human}}s.

* ''Series/LookAroundYou'' (series 1) parodies this with [=EBEs=], Electronic Brain Enhancements, chips that students can plug into their heads to help with their revision but which they can become addicted to.

* In ''Series/RedDwarf'', in a TV episode and expanded for the novelization, the computer game "Better Than Life" works on this principle -- terminally addictive total virtual reality.

* ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'':
** One episode features a guest character with a data port behind her ear, which she can use to bypass security systems. The dialogue makes it sound as though they're relatively freely available but often very expensive (unless you want the ''cheap'' tech directly connected to your brain).
** It shows up again in a later episode on a member of the [[TheSyndicate Orion Syndicate]]. In both cases, the interfaces are very useful for getting into secure systems and data, but the drawbacks include nasty physical pain from being "spiked" by security features designed to counter just such breaches, to the point where the users risk permanent damage, paralysis, or even death. It's implied the combination of their use for breaching security barriers and the associated dangers are the main reason that such implants are mostly used by criminals (and thus have a stigma attached to them).
* ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' has Geordi La Forge's visor, which is an EverythingSensor that feeds information directly into his brain, often said to be more sensitive than the standard tricorder. He was born blind and was still blind without them, which makes this almost a DisabilitySuperpower. It's shown that the pre-existing implants placed in his temples allow him limited forms of computer interface, with one episode allowing him to control a hazardous environment probe as though it was his own body. In later movies he moves on to using cybernetic ocular implants.

** There's another episode where Tom Paris gets too close to an alien shuttle with a neural interface.

* ''VideoGame/AceCombat3Electrosphere'' has aircraft controlled in this manner, through an ENSI (Electro-Neuron-Synapse-Interface) that replaces the standard stick and throttle to allow the user to control the plane with their thoughts. The SuperPrototype X-49 Night Raven uses an "Opto-Neuron-Synapse-Interface" instead, which requires some surgery on the user to connect first, and which artificially accelerates the brain's neural network to allow for greater combat performance, at the cost of increased mental strain on the user that can lead to brain damage. The system as a whole is known as [[FunWithAcronyms COFFIN, or Connection for Flight Interface]].
** Said acronym also lampshades the fact that COFFIN systems are [[ArmoredCoffins mutually exclusive with ejection seats]] due to integrating the pilot so deeply with the plane that there's no time to safely unplug the pilot in case of an emergency.

* In ''VideoGame/CytusII'', 70% of the world's population has a chip implanted behind their ear, which allows them to connect to the {{Cyberspace}} world of Cytus. [[spoiler:Aesir-FEST and Neko's stream both get targeted by cyber-terrorists, inflicting mild-to-moderate brain damage such as amnesia and comas on those affected.]]

*** Through a [[http://www.halopedia.org/Spartan_neural_interface Spartan neural interface]], Cortana increases the Master Chief's compatibility with his [[PoweredArmor MJOLNIR armor]], and can have further access to his suit's systems. This is also for the most part how the MJOLNIR armor works in the first place, with the user moving the armor's limbs via thought (though it still requires {{Super Soldier}}s like the Spartans to wear and make use of it -- regular soldiers who tested the initial versions of the armor essentially pasted themselves because the armor moved too fast).

* ''VideoGame/OneMustFall'' uses a variant: pilots of the setting's [[HumongousMecha HARs]] aren't actually ''in'' the machine. Instead, they are remotely linked by virtue of a head-enclosing capsule that tracks and reacts to neuron activation using advanced chemical detection (and presumably some kind of shunt into the brain to read all these chemical signals). The device feeds these neuron responses directy into a transmitter, giving the robot motion guidance, while the robot's sensors send visual feedback (and apparently some degree of sensate feedback in the form of 'stun') to its pilots through the same interface. How the robot is able to chemically transmit this level of information is never clarified, but it is effective enough to be the most popular way to control a HAR. [[BrainUploading They tried an alternative once]], and that ended ''[[DefeatEqualsExplosion very]]'' [[YourHeadASplode poorly]].

* Bedivere in the Space Arc of ''Webcomic/ArthurKingOfTimeAndSpace'' has an I/O jack replacing his [[ArtificialLimbs missing hand]], [[http://www.arthurkingoftimeandspace.com/1065.htm largely for the sake of a pun]].

* ''Webcomic/MetompsychosisUnion'': Tilo has a wire behind his ear he can pull out to plug into various computer ports.

* In ''WesternAnimation/RegularShow'', after Techmo fails to take down a virus with a super-hi-tech keyboard complete with DOUBLE holo-Pads, he plugs himself into the computer in this manner. It doesn't quite go according to plan, though.

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* ''Dynamo Joe'' has Data Com One, a paraplegic whose brain is linked to a military computer, making him a brilliant strategist.
* In ''ComicBook/{{Superman}}'' continuities where ComicBook/{{Brainiac}} isn't a robot himself, this is what the diodes on his head are used for.

* ''ComicBook/{{Transmetropolitan}}'' has a "phone trait" that uses an imaginary keyboard; one time, Spider uses his to transfer some incriminating photos over the phone lines.

* In ''Fanfic/MassEffectEndOfDays'', this is an integral part of Alliance society. The Council finds the extent of the use of it... disturbing.

* ''WesternAnimation/BigHero6'' has the microbots being controlled by a headband neural interface, which Yokai incorporates into his kabuki mask.

* ''Franchise/TheMatrix'' has every human used by the machines outfitted with a port in the back of the skull to plug into the matrix. In Zion, humans with the port are plugged into a machine that... apparently lets them manipulate a huge 3-D computer interface. Non-vat grown humans can't get one installed, either. This means that natives of Zion, or in other words the grown-up children of Matrix escapees, have to content themselves with either flying the hovercraft, or playing "Operator", which means plugging people into the Matrix, getting them out, and giving them weaponry while they're in there. Well, in theory they could give them anything, but it's often [[MoreDakka guns. Lots of guns]].
* The movie ''Film/SleepDealer'' uses this frequently and most people work by controlling machines through brain computer interfaces.
* In ''Film/StrangeDays'', virtual reality is someone else's reality. Using SQUID technology that records and plays back thoughts and sensations, voyeurs [[TransferableMemory relive parts of other people's lives]] -- sometimes with deadly results. The [=SQUIDs=] operate using a brain computer interface.
* ''Film/{{Upldr}}'' has the protagonist working to develop this technology that enables people to upload or download brains.
* In ''Film/Saturn3'', brain stem interfaces are placed in all human "instructors" of the Demi-god series of robots, allowing direct connection via radio waves (precursor to bluetooth) to upload instructions/training. Apparently, they are kept in those who wash out of the training program, allowing the insane Captain Benson to take the place of the legitimate operator. As a result, the robot Hector, whose brain consists of living tissue, takes on his insanity and lust for Alex. Later, Hector kills Benson and implants the interface in Alex's partner Adam, not to put anything into his head, ''but to take something out.''

* The LINK, in ''Literature/ArchangelProtocol''. The LINK brain implant is done at birth, and gives access to the VR internet, or LINK, when it is activated at 18. And, of course, it is permanently disabled if a person is excommunicated or an atheist. All commerce and communication is done via the LINK, and once cut off, the last recourse is [=MouseNET=], the hacker Mouse's ''free'' part of the LINK, and what remains of the old, unregulated internet. Comparatively low in bandwidth compared to the rest of the LINK, Russia's entire economy runs via [=MouseNET=].
* ''Literature/{{Neuromancer}}'' practically invented this trope, especially as regards the {{Cyberpunk}} genre.
* ''Literature/{{Valhalla}}'': "Links" are common in 2230 to hook users directly into the internet. Most citizens have small antennae behind their ears that facilitate immersion or consultation of the internet.

* An ex-military space pilot in Katherine Kerr's ''Literature/PolarCityBlues'' has a (sealed over) port in her head from interfacing with the ships she flew.
* Michael Scott's ''Literature/GeminiGame'' features the standard "big plug on the back of the neck" and headband-based videogame ports.
* In ''Literature/TheConquerorsTrilogy'', the [[CoolPlane Copperheads]] are controlled through a jack in the back of the heads of the pilot and tail gunner, with the interface basically mapping the fighter's functions to a virtual human body. Damage is represented by smell and color (the obvious choice of pain presumably being too distracting), weapons by the user's fists, and so forth.
* In Scott Westerfeld's ''Literature/{{Uglies}}'' series, the Specials have this, as well as in the fourth book, ''Extras''. In ''Extras'', everyone has these.
* ''Literature/{{Nova}}'' features a technology in which people have neural wrist- and neck-plugs installed so that they can control a wide variety of gadgets, from vacuum cleaners to starships. This style of interface is so pervasive that individuals who do not want to receive the implants are effectively unable to use any remotely sophisticated equipment.
* The Creator/DeanKoontz novel ''Midnight'' features people who are mutating in bizarre ways. A 'popular' mutation is growing a computer interface, and when one such person dies the computer freaks out and starts 'screaming' about missing the rest of it. Another person melds with his car in a similar way.
* ''Literature/PsychohistoricalCrisis'' by Donald Kingsbury is set in a future that's inspired by Creator/IsaacAsimov's ''Literature/FoundationSeries'', re-imagined for the 1990s. Brain-computer interfaces are ubiquitous, and are used to explain several phenomena that Asimov attributed to PsychicPowers.
* ''Literature/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy'': Infinidum Enterprise's Computer Terminals in the Hitchhiker's Guide buildings. There is a quote explaining how they're not a 'clunky typewriter in front of a television set', but in fact a brain-computer interface thing.
* ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'' has these on the bug fighters and other alien craft. Ax makes a comment about human computers being so primitive they don't have a decent psychic link.
* This is required for the handless [[SapientCetaceans neo-fins]] to use tools in the ''Literature/{{Uplift}}'' series, usually linked to a harness with prosthetic arms and other tools, though they also use them to control vehicles and fly spaceships. Many humans have similar sockets for similar reasons. The book is also a primer on the risks of such interfaces with one character suffering brain damage from electrocution through their socket and another physical injury when an interface plug is forcibly yanked out in an ultralight airplane crash.
* A key plot point in ''Literature/BrainJack'', by Brian Falkner, coming in the form of "Neuro Headsets".

** There is also a colony of humans founded by those who have been subjects of genetic experimentation and have additional glands that emit and receive infrared signals that interface with any device that has an IR port (in this 'verse, nearly all computers have one). This is the biological version of a neural implant.
** A more direct approach involves plugging a cable into a port in one's temple, which people get at the same time as the implant. The port is normally covered by false skin.
* ''Literature/{{Manna}}'' has the interface imbedded to everyone in Australia. Some use it to alter their perception of reality to what they desire (e.g., masking technology). Also, it's designed to dampen crime to prevent causing harm to others.
* In George Alec Effinger's ''Literature/MaridAudran'' series, this is mainly used with the customized portable devices called "moddies" (personality overlays used for entertainment) and "daddies" (add-ons that provide specific skills, like languages or technical expertise). Many people have sockets in their head for at least one moddy and a couple of daddies. The sockets can also be connected to more general-purpose computers and multi-player video games.
* Renos in ''Literature/{{Aristoi}}'', which partially inspired the mesh inserts in ''TabletopGame/EclipsePhase''.
* This is what the titular Nexus 5 does for a human in ''Literature/TheNexusSeries''. Nexus allows nanomachines to bind to the human brain and map itself into a usable architecture during a psychedelic [[FantasticDrug "calibration phase"]]. Afterwards, anyone running Nexus can communicate entire emotions, ideas, and memories to anyone else with the architecture. This doesn't even touch on what happens if someone has a [[PeoplePuppets back-door]].
* In ''Literature/HeartOfSteel'', {{cyborg}} Alistair Mechanus has a mental interface with his island's computer network through his cybernetic implants. However, he can't access it without the A.I. Arthur, as he discovers when Arthur is taken out.
* The Bremen Chip from ''Literature/{{MARZENA}}'' is inserted via the nasal cavity into the thalamus (the processor of the senses and the origin point of consciousness) and allows its users to connect wirelessly to computers, or even to merge minds with G-Net A.I.s or people who also have the chip implant. [[ElectronicTelepathy Communication between two brains]] can be tricky, though, and usually requires a middle brain for the translation of brain activities (unless they are identical).
* In the ''Literature/RevelationSpaceSeries'', brain-computer interfaces ''used'' to be common, but then the Melding Plague GreyGoo showed up and [[LostTechnology ruined everything]]. The Gunnery interface on the ''Nostalgia for Infinity'' requires implants that makes the user visualize themselves as the 4-kilometer-long starship when sitting in the Gunnery control chair.
* ''Literature/TheStarchildTrilogy'' has a very early example (from two decades before {{Cyberpunk}} became a genre). Unusually located directly on the forehead, "communion plates" are how the most advanced technicians work with the [[MasterComputer Planning Computer]].

* Catherine Fisher likes this trope. ''Literature/RelicMaster'' also includes the Coronet, which jacks the user's brain into the {{Weather Control Machine}}s.
* ''Literature/AgentG'' and all the other CorporateSamurai ProfessionalKiller types in the International Refugee Society have an IRD implant as part of their standard cybernetics package. They allow human beings to store their memories, interact with computers directly, and properly manage their cybernetics. [[spoiler:It's {{subverted|Trope}} when G discovers that he doesn't have one, since his entire brain is a computer due to being a [[RidiculouslyHumanRobots bioroid]] rather than a "real" cyberized human.]]

* The end of John D. [=MacDonald's=] 1950 story ''Spectator Sport'' has a {{squick}}-inducing description of the protagonist being hooked up to a LotusEaterMachine, including the skin being flayed from his palms and feet so they can be grafted directly onto the feedback pedals.
* In the ''Literature/XandriCorelel'' series, most people have technology that can be activated neurally. Xandri doesn't because her unusual neurology works badly with computers -- the last time she tried using a brain-computer interface, her wristlet started blaring out a lecture on the breeding habits of naba eels in the middle of an important debriefing.

* ''Literature/ThisAlienShore'': As required by law, everyone has brainware implanted in their skulls at birth that they can use to watch movies, play games, and message each other without moving.
* In ''Literature/HoshiAndTheRedCityCircuit'', all [[FictionalDisability operators]] have quantum processors in their heads called navi, which only they can use thanks to their unusual neurology. A navis is connected to its user's brain via thousands of tiny needles through the skull, and its blue glow is visible through the skin of the forehead, making it easy to tell who's an Operator. A navis helps control its user's movements, blocks out unnecessary sensory input, and comes up with socially appropriate things to say. It also serves as a personal computer used to access [[{{Cyberspace}} Memspace]] and make complicated calculations. The three murder victims were killed by having their navi forcibly ripped from their skulls.
* In ''Literature/{{Bounders}}'', the titular DesignerBabies were bred to have the ideal brain structures to master bounding gloves, which allow a person to teleport from one location to any other location, instead of from specific launch sites. When a new user puts on the gloves, they establish a cerebral link to the user. After that, they can be controlled with thoughts.
* Pilgrennon from ''Literature/PilgrennonsChildren'' bred the titular DesignerBabies to be autistic, as he believed that all autistics had an affinity for computers, and inserted computer chips that allow them to communicate directly with other computers into their brains while they were still in the womb. Results vary -- Alpha suffered severe brain damage and for years lost her ability to act except on other people's orders and Peter suffers from PowerIncontinence that requires him to wear a Viking helmet so that he won't destroy every piece of machinery around, while Dana learned how to control her abilities and become a {{technopath}}.

* In ''Series/StargateAtlantis,'' a lot of Ancient and Wraith technology is operated by thinking at it. Unfortunately, no matter how much you think at it, a Puddle Jumper won't make you a sandwich.
* ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' has Geordi La Forge's visor, which is an EverythingSensor that feeds information directly into his brain, often said to be more sensitive than the standard tricorder. He was born blind and was still blind without them, which makes this almost a DisabilitySuperpower. It's shown that the pre-existing implants placed in his temples allow him limited forms of computer interface, with one episode allowing him to control a hazardous environment probe as though it was his own body. In later movies he moves on to using cybernetic ocular implants.

* In ''Series/{{Andromeda}}'', Seamus Harper has a data port in the side of his neck, which allows him to plug into and interface with computer systems. Later on, he plugs a tesseract into the same port, which allows him to pass through solid objects.
* In ''Series/RedDwarf'', in a TV episode and expanded for the novelization, the computer game "Better Than Life" works on this principle -- terminally addictive total virtual reality
* ''Series/LookAroundYou'' (series 1) parodies this with [=EBEs=], Electronic Brain Enhancements, chips that students can plug into their heads to help with their revision but which they can become addicted to.
* The entire premise of ''Series/Intelligence2014'' is that U.S. Cyber Command has installed a wireless-enabled computer chip in Gabriel Vaughn, a former Delta Force operator, to create "the next generation of [[TitleDrop intelligence]]".
* In ''Series/{{Farscape}}'', unlike normal [[LivingShip Leviathans]], Talyn is designed to implant a [[HumanAliens Peacekeeper]] pilot with an implant in the base of the neck that connects their nervous systems wirelessly.
* An extremely primitive example compared to most, but Root gains one of these in ''Series/PersonOfInterest''. After an involuntary stapectomy, she gets a cochlear implant that serves as a constant link to The Machine.
* ''Series/TheOuterLimits1995'':
** In "[[Recap/TheOuterLimits1995S2E18TheLightBrigade The Light Brigade]]", the Chief Weapons Officer has an ocular implant which allows his brain to connect to the computer of the ''Light Brigade'' and arm the subatomic bomb.
** A slight variation occurs in "[[Recap/TheOuterLimits1995S4E26InOurOwnImage In Our Own Image]]", since it involves an interface with the optic nerve as opposed to the brain directly. The android Mac 27 has a device which can connect his neural net to Cecilia Fairman's optic nerve so he can show her recordings and recreations (in other words, [[ClipShow clips from previous episodes]]) contained in his memory files.
* Prior to the events of ''Series/Space1999'', computer specialist David Kano took part in an experimental program to link the memory and calculating powers of a computer to the thinking ability of a human brain via fiber-optic sensors implanted in his cerebral cortex. The only time this is demonstrated is in "The Guardian of Piri", where it is shown to be an unpleasant and uncomfortable procedure. It is revealed that he was the only one of the four test subjects who did not suffer permanent brain damage.

** ''TabletopGame/{{Cyberpunk}} 2.0.2.0.'', at least, this includes the possibility of using chips to know abilities you don't know. However, it's just useful to be a JackOfAllTrades.

* ''TabletopGame/EclipsePhase'':
** Nearly all Morphs come standard with Basic Mesh Inserts (the Mesh being the post-Singularity version of the 'net).
** The Access Jacks implant, which allows users to hook their brain to machines via fiberoptic cable, if you prefer your connection faster and impossible to intercept.
* ''TabletopGame/CthulhuTech'': Engels. See ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'' above, without the {{synchronization}}, but with more invasive surgery and SAN checks.
* ''TabletopGame/{{GURPS}}: TabletopGame/TranshumanSpace'' makes brain implants practically the only cybernetics still in common use.
* In Iron Crown Enterprises' ''Cyberspace'', the Direct Neural Interface implant allows a person's brain to be hooked up to computers (such as a C Deck) with a DNI Cable.
* In R. Talsorian Games' ''TabletopGame/{{Cyberpunk}}'', Interface Plugs allow the person implanted with them to connect to and control cyberdecks.
* ''TabletopGame/{{Alternity}}'' has an implant that allows a character to interact with compatible technology.
* Present in ''TabletopGame/BattleTech''. Enhanced Imaging and the Direct Neural Interface are implants which basically allows the pilot to directly control the [[HumongousMecha BattleMech]] with their mind, rather than with the standard joysticks and neuro-helmet. Protomechs all use this, as they're too small to fit a cockpit. The devices have a number of drawbacks, such as crippling withdrawal symptoms and causing the pilot to go slowly insane. For standard issue control interfaces in [=BattleMechs=], however, the ubiquitous Neurohelmet is used, albeit only to balance the mech. Instead of invasive neurosurgery, all the neurohelmet requires is a clean haircut around the temples and a tolerance for a scalp-crawling sensation. Depending on the technological capacity of the time period that a neurohelmet was manufactured, neurohelmets can range from something the size of a real-life fighter helmet to giant bulky crude 10-pound monstrosities.
* The Neural Connectivity Suite in ''TabletopGame/HcSvntDracones'' replaces the user's cranium with a wireless computer that is capable of running various software and enables "telepathic" communication, along with upgrades like a wireless hub (that can intercept and redirect radio signals), or a [[HiveMind hive node]]. [[RidiculouslyHumanRobots Cogs]] can interface with machines by touching them but have no wireless capability without an NCS, and their Core Consciousnesses work sufficiently different from normal computers that they can't run software either.
* In ''TabletopGame/RocketAge'', the Ancient Martians used neural interfaces to interact with their war-walkers (something the Nazis [[StupidJetpackHitler have been quick to reverse engineer]]) and the Europans, the setting's most advanced race, have also developed something similar.

* ''VideoGame/DeusEx'' mentions an occipital[[note]]bone in the back of the skull/lobe of the brain right in front of it responsible for vision (yes, in the back of your head)[[/note]] jack in one in-game news article and an in-game email. Based on the context of the news article (the fact that a teenage girl has one is mentioned alongside having a tattoo and wearing black), these are looked upon negatively.
** Early in ''VideoGame/DeusExHumanRevolution'' you encounter a "Purist" hacker with a "neural hub". The fact that an anti-aug terrorist has wires sticking out of his skull is one of the first major hints that something is up. Panchaea's supercomputer requires a set of spinal implants [[spoiler:(as possessed by Zhao Yun Ru and the [[WetwareCPU Hyron Drones powering it]])]] to be directly accessed.
** In ''VideoGame/DeusExMankindDivided'', investing Praxis into your Hacking skill tree upgrades Jensen's own neural interface, allowing it to use increasingly large parts of his brain for extra processing power when attacking "secure" devices.
* This is pretty much the entire point of the ''VideoGame/HalfLife2'' mod ''VideoGame/{{Dystopia}}''. The players can jack into a 3D interpretation of a computer by mentally connecting to the computer through the cyberdeck in their heads. Of course, since they are putting their own minds inside the machine, they leave their real bodies vulnerable to attack.

* The pilots in ''VideoGame/{{Implosion}}'' use a neural link to download their minds into their [=WarMech=]s. The in-game explanation is that since the pilots aren't physically inside their battle suits, they're immune to viral infection from the alien XADA enemies. Too bad the XADA eventually figure out how to hack the link.
* In ''VideoGame/SpiderManPS4'', Dr. Octavius develops one to control his mechanical arms like in [[ComicBook/SpiderMan the comics]], [[spoiler:but it's faulty and its continued usage drives him insane, [[StartOfDarkness turning him into Doctor Octopus]]]].
* ''VideoGame/SystemShock'' has the player character equipped with one that allows him to navigate computer systems like virtual 3D wireframe mazes. It's suggested to be military-exclusive equipment, but the player character obtains the implants illegally.
* The Dreamer consoles in ''VideoGame/DreamfallTheLongestJourney''.

* Near the end of ''VideoGame/{{Machinarium}}'', you have to connect your brain with that of the huge-headed leader. You view his mind as a tiny-screened 8-bit game, with the objective of shooting out 33 viruses that were planted by one of the villains. Of course, EVERYONE'S a robot in this game.

* Having one of these installed is a requirement for becoming [[WetwareCPU Unbound]] in the ''VideoGame/{{Homeworld}}'' universe. MindRape and [[AndIMustScream worse]] is still a threat posed by a few sources, from [[TheVirus the Beast]] to [[spoiler:quite possibly the Taiidan Emperor]].
* In ''VideoGame/{{Observer}}'', anyone who has implants also have ID chips in the back of their heads. [[CorporateSamurai Observers]], like Dan Lazarski, can use these to plug into peoples' heads and interrogate them from within. The effect is... [[MindScrew strange, to say the least]].
* In the adventure game ''VideoGame/NetZone'', accessing Cycorp's [[InsideAComputerSystem Genecys Zone]] requires attaching a pair of electrodes to the user's forehead, which Newton Winters uses in the hopes of finding his [[DisappearedDad missing father]], Zel. When attached, the user goes into a coma while their mind enters the Genecys Zone. [[spoiler:At the endgame, [[BigBad Walter Sayle]] exploits this connection by rigging Cycorp's main core to overload your interface, [[YourMindMakesItReal rendering you a brain-dead vegetable]] if you don't stop his plans in time.]]
* ''VideoGame/AceCombat3Electrosphere'' has aircraft controlled in this manner, through an ENSI (Electro-Neuron-Synapse-Interface) that replaces the standard stick and throttle to allow the user to control the plane with their thoughts. The SuperPrototype X-49 Night Raven uses an "Opto-Neuron-Synapse-Interface" instead, which requires some surgery on the user to connect first, and which artificially accelerates the brain's neural network to allow for greater combat performance, at the cost of increased mental strain on the user that can lead to brain damage. The system as a whole is known as [[FunWithAcronyms COFFIN, or Connection for Flight Interface]].
** Said acronym also lampshades the fact that COFFIN systems are [[ArmoredCoffins mutually exclusive with ejection seats]] due to integrating the pilot so deeply with the plane that there's no time to safely unplug the pilot in case of an emergency.
* In ''VideoGame/CytusII'', 70% of the world's population has a chip implanted behind their ear, which allows them to connect to the {{Cyberspace}} world of Cytus. [[spoiler:Aesir-FEST and Neko's stream both get targeted by cyber-terrorists, inflicting mild-to-moderate brain damage such as amnesia and comas on those affected.]]
* ''VideoGame/TheEvilWithin2'': Everyone in the Mobius conspiracy has neural chips surgically jammed into their brains so they can remotely access the outer shells of the VR world STEM, see the world in augmented vision, and identify other agents, among other company perks. [[spoiler:Unfortunately for them, even the chips that ''don't'' have bombs in them are neurologically sensitive enough to cause a lethal brain hemorrhage if they are hacked by someone controlling STEM.]]
* ''VideoGame/SidMeiersAlphaCentauri'' references a lot of this as part of the developments in {{cyborg}} technology that the game explores. Two technological developments -- Neural Grafting and Mind-Machine Interface -- deal directly with these technologies. For some reason, the latter lets you build copters.
* The Hypnospace headbands of ''VideoGame/HypnospaceOutlaw'' are what happens when IncompetenceInc builds one of these with technology from TheNineties, allowing people to browse the web while they sleep. Doctors have concerns, to say the least.

* From ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'', the Throne of Faustus Heterodyne. [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20071005 It can]] be [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20071008 reasonably described]] as [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20071029 creepy]].
* The CoolCar driven by ''Webcomic/GeneCatlow'' and Catswhisker can be driven normally... or by ''thought''. The latter method, however, proves difficult to operate.
* ''Webcomic/{{Terinu}}'' has the old "port in the head" method of cybernetic interface, but it's limited to expensive and specialized "Cybergliders" who run the risk of eventual brain damage even before you add in encountering hostile ICE. Everyone else sticks to either voice commands or keyboards.

* ''Webcomic/{{xkcd}}'' shows us that [[http://www.xkcd.com/644/ some people]] are not going to wait for these interfaces to go mainstream.
* Bedivere in the Space Arc of ''Webcomic/ArthurKingOfTimeAndSpace'' has an I/O jack replacing his [[ArtificialLimbs missing hand]], [[http://www.arthurkingoftimeandspace.com/1065.htm largely for the sake of a pun]].
* In ''Webcomic/TwentyFirstCenturyFox'', most personal computers are VR glasses that seem to respond to a combination of brain signals and voice control, offering a full sensory experience, while cyborgs may have a cortical jack. The same technology is later used for "o-Pods" that act as a virtual reality version of the iPod.
* In ''Webcomic/UmlautHouse 2'', most people have "Eye-fis".

* Implants are fairly common in ''Webcomic/QuantumVibe'', though Beltapes typically don't get them as they were once enslaved using them. Nicole gets hers in order to [[NeuralImplanting download the basic skills to pilot a Helio-flyer]], and notably jacks it into her flyer when a solar flare fries the normal controls.
* In ''Webcomic/NotAVillain'', Kleya uses a sophisticated brain-computer interface, but disguises it to conceal her identity.
* ''Webcomic/{{Magience}}'' uses a "neuron entrainment" headset. It works even when the user is asleep.
* ''Webcomic/MetompsychosisUnion'': Tilo has an wire behind his ear he can pull out to plug into various computer ports.
* ''Webcomic/{{Pilot}}'': Robots are able to do this, allowing them to multitask. The titular Pilot uses it to both fly a plane and talk with passengers on the way.
* In ''Webcomic/{{SSDD}}'', Tessa's squad have {{nano|machines}}bot implants that are primarily used for ElectronicTelepathy, though they can interface with some compatible technology such as their PoweredArmor.

* In the ''Literature/WhateleyUniverse'', more than one deviser goes with the datajack. Techno-Devil has a shaved mullet, with an exposed datajack on each side of his head. Jericho has one as well. Merry doesn't even need that much (she just has to be near a fast CPU hooked up to the internet, and her mind can literally dive into cyberspace). Since [[{{Technopath}} this is in fact her mutant power]], it may be debatable if it fully counts for this trope, but it's the closest thing to the 'cyberspace experience' depicted in the various stories so far.

* ''Anime/{{Macross}}'':
** One of these was part of the prototype YF-21 "Sturmvogel" in ''Anime/MacrossPlus''. The interface worked but was found to be unable to distinguish between a pilot's ''imagination'' and direct mental commands. At one point, the pilot accidentally nearly totals another plane by only considering "If I were to apply downward thrust right now, that plane would be destroyed"... and his plane immediately reacts as though that was an order. This unreliability of the interface, not to mention the intense mental discipline needed by the pilot, leads to the idea being scrapped. The production model VF-22 "Sturmvogel II" lacks any such system.
** ''Anime/MacrossFrontier'': The VF-27 "Lucifer"-class fighters have a thought-controlled interface for use by cyborg pilots. Non-augmented pilots can still use standard controls, but they aren't as efficient.
* ''Manga/MoonlightMile'': Some robots [[spoiler:secretly developed by the U.S. military]] use this for operations. [[spoiler:Maggy has to use one to rescue astronauts after a space debris disaster.]] The interface almost ends up overloading their brain and killing them.
* In ''Anime/FutureGPXCyberFormula'', the [[spoiler:Al-Zard NP-1 is a bio-computer that helps its pilot drive better by basically controlling his every action]].
* ''LightNovel/RebuildWorld'': Not only omnipresent, but takes different forms.
** Akira is a type of DifferentlyPoweredIndividual with a wireless interface via {{Transhuman}} BioAugmentation from the Old World {{Precursors}}. They all had the ability, but it's rare now and the MegaCorp around [[TheyWouldCutYouUp would experiment on or even dissect one]], or just use them in SuperhumanTrafficking. The main things it's used for is AugmentedReality (including Akira seeing his VirtualSidekick Alpha), and HollywoodHacking. It allows for {{Telepathy}} with A.I. and other connectors, increases ability to process information, and allows for an equivalent to BulletTime at the cost of mental fatigue ([[CastFromHitpoints and brain damage]]). Alpha also eventually connects Akira into his EverythingSensor through this to give him a sixth sense that feels like vibrations.
** PoweredArmor generally has two modes of operation, matching the user's movements, or scanning the user's brain to start moving ''before the wearer.'' A later set of armor Akira gets even gives sense of touch through its gloves, which Alpha uses to [[PowerPerversionPotential simulate him groping her chest]] to tease him.
** Someone who's a FullConversionCyborg like Kain or Nelia, can physically plug themselves directly into AutomatedAutomobiles or MiniMecha to drive them much more effectively than a normal human, using its sensors as their own senses.
* In ''Anime/{{Robotech}}'' and the source material for the second saga (namely ''Anime/SuperDimensionCavalrySouthernCross''), this is one of the reasons the Bioroid are so hard to take down -- being thought-controlled, they're far nimbler than the human mechs they’re facing, and the multiple redundancies in the system mean the only swift way to take one down is SnipingTheCockpit.
** In Jack [=McKinney=]'s tie-in novels, Earth mecha have a similar system, the Thinking Cap. Said system is not present in the series, as shown in all sagas (where the control systems are seen multiple times) and outright stated in the second saga (when the traditional controls are contrasted with the Bioroid's).

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]