Guns in Helmets...

[Bob the Gunslinger]

So, I'm kind of fleshing out a science fiction world with "sufficiently advanced" technology, and I want the weapon systems to be as natural and convenient as possible. Now, most soldiers in a war would not actually be on the front line physically (their minds would be downloaded into much superior drones. No AI for legal reasons), but there will be a need for police and other armed citizens who will carry weapons on their bodies.

My idea is that the weapons would be integrated into a helmet, with the emitter turret in the forehead area. The helmets could target anything the wearer sees by tracking eye movements and shoot lasers or other near-instantaneous vectors of harm. This would leave the officer's hands free to do whatever, maybe even to carry his personal anti-armor weapons or something. Under cover officers could have smaller versions surgically implanted into their eyeballs, etc..

What do you think of this idea? Has it been done before?

The story itself will not focus on combat, but there will be some of those scenes. They will not be done in an entirely serious manner, but I want them to be enjoyable as action scenes on their own as well. Would you be able to read about soldiers with guns in their helmets without rolling your eyes?

[white_rabbit]

Striking Scorpion helmets and Dark Eldar tormentor helms are a similar concept I suppose. Theirs seem to be a distracting first strike to stun a foe before they follow up with swords and glaives though.

[Batman]

Soldiers? No.
Sorry, but even ignoring the fact that modern day helmets are often overloaded with gadgets as it is, the head is about the worst position to mount any weapon with recoil worth mentioning. You don't get much higher above your center of gravity than that, and that ignoring the stress on the soldier's neck when firing. Even for a laser, you'd probably be better of with a backpack-mounted/shoulder-situated weapon to keep the weight off the neck. Nothing says that can't track eye-movement either.
Just out of curiousity, how did you intend to fire the weapon?

[Bob the Gunslinger]

Those are some good points, Batman, that certainly explain why the idea isn't used more, but do you have any comments about anything besides the weight and recoil? They would mostly be discounted in the universe I have in mind...

When I said "sufficiently advanced" technology, I meant it. The helmet would be about the size of a traffic patrol cop's and weigh about the same. In this universe, weight, recoil and power generation aren't the problem. The helmet would fire when the wearer wants it to. Most people in this universe will have some sort of memory-enhancement technology bordering on transhumanism. Human civilization will have been around longer than the dinosaurs existed and have a presence in hundreds of galaxies. In fact, the only thing keeping the average person from ascending into energy-squidhood would be money (and some local laws). It's not an entirely serious universe, but I would like it to be at least somewhat internally consistent.

So, if a civilization has the time and resources to produce idealized gear for shits and giggles, would lasers that shoot what you're looking at be a good idea, or are there yet more flaws with it?

[Darth Fanboy]

Have the helmet be an interface with some sort of drone that hovers, perhaps give it a link to the wearers mind if you wanted to go further.

[madd0ct0r]

Spy eyeball lasers?

limited by needing to pass sensor checks. Plus the inconvience of losing an eye. Hiding it in the bones of a finger might be easier.

Police weapons need an intimidation factor and a non-lethal option. To keep weight off the head (if nothing else a big helmet restricts vision and slows the speed you can turn your head) I'd also go with shoulder mounted weaponry (or centred in the chest!). Camera on head might make sense, but from your description of the universe they could probably stream the memory in real time. Disorientation stuff - flash grenades could actually make sense built into the helmet, it's where the perp might be looking.

Speaking of which, have you seen the Schlock Mercenary epaulette grenades?

[Connor MacLeod]

Soldiers? No.
Sorry, but even ignoring the fact that modern day helmets are often overloaded with gadgets as it is, the head is about the worst position to mount any weapon with recoil worth mentioning. You don't get much higher above your center of gravity than that, and that ignoring the stress on the soldier's neck when firing. Even for a laser, you'd probably be better of with a backpack-mounted/shoulder-situated weapon to keep the weight off the neck. Nothing says that can't track eye-movement either.
Just out of curiousity, how did you intend to fire the weapon?

Recoil is going to be pretty insignificant for most laser or particle beam weapons, unless you're going with some insanely thermal heat ray that you need to take out a tank or something.

For most unarmored individuals (or lightly armored troops) double or triple digit KJ pulsed lasers probably would work fine as antipersonnel weapons, and for rather trivial recoil.

[Bob the Gunslinger]

Have the helmet be an interface with some sort of drone that hovers, perhaps give it a link to the wearers mind if you wanted to go further.

I have something like this in mind for the heavy hitters, especially for citizens from the more industrialized nations. Due to the ease and ubiquity of many types of teleportation/FTL (not a serious universe!), many weapons are basically a "mouse" in the sense that the bearer really only carries enough with him to designate a target, or "point and click". Then the drone/ship/computer a couple galaxies away simply zaps the target with the appropriate weapon.

Of course, these weapons would rarely be used. Many a veteran will wax poetic about the up-close and personal nature of an artillery barrage, where you're on the same planet as your target, breathing the same air. It's so much harder to kill a man with such intimate means.

It may seem extreme, but this is a universe where traffic accidents can potentially leave billions dead...

[Zixinus]

Well, how about something light? Like a poisoned dart-gun or something that is activated by a remote somewhere on the body?
Though, you would need a pretty ornate hat.

Have the helmet be an interface with some sort of drone that hovers, perhaps give it a link to the wearers mind if you wanted to go further.

In other words, a targeting laser?

Ironic this shows up.

It does make sense if the head is reinforced by power armour or something.

[Crazedwraith]

What do you think of this idea? Has it been done before?

There was something similar in the Star Trek DS9 Millenium series. a Future Federation had clear visors that hooked up to a belt power. There were holographic screen inside than controlled an inbuilt phaser and tricorder. Predictably Worf approved of the device. Since it gave him a phaser and a tricorder while leaving his hands free for a bat'leth.

[Cykeisme]

There's also the issue that firing around cover would require exposing your head to the enemy.

While it's true that even with present-day firearms you need to expose at least one eye to view your enemy and aim down the sights, since we're talking about hypothetical future tech, I'd rather have a telescopic sight-camera on the weapon, that feeds into an eyepiece. That way you can fire around cover while keeping your vitals safely concealed..

[Purple]

If you can have that is there a reason why not to simply have some sort of railgun launcher that can be mounted on a small turret on the top of your shoulder and act as a high velocity direct fire or low velocity indirect fire weapon? Solves your cover issues nicely.

[Eleas]

Fred Saberhagen and Roger Zelazny's collaborative novel Coils featured a device that fits your description. Essentially, the story is set in a near-future USA. At the climax, the hero has broken into the HQ of his former bosses, an Evil Corporation, using his technopathic abilities. He does so by remotely shutting down some strange bulky headband-like device that the guards wear, which he knows is some kind of guided targeting system. Turning it back on, he dons one such device and its backpack power source. Moments later, the device spots some guards turning a corner, and he only feels it vibrate, after which he notices their corpses (IIRC it was some kind of directed beam weapon).

[Batman]

Soldiers? No.
Sorry, but even ignoring the fact that modern day helmets are often overloaded with gadgets as it is, the head is about the worst position to mount any weapon with recoil worth mentioning. You don't get much higher above your center of gravity than that, and that ignoring the stress on the soldier's neck when firing. Even for a laser, you'd probably be better of with a backpack-mounted/shoulder-situated weapon to keep the weight off the neck. Nothing says that can't track eye-movement either.
Just out of curiousity, how did you intend to fire the weapon?

Recoil is going to be pretty insignificant for most laser or particle beam weapons, unless you're going with some insanely thermal heat ray that you need to take out a tank or something.
For most unarmored individuals (or lightly armored troops) double or triple digit KJ pulsed lasers probably would work fine as antipersonnel weapons, and for rather trivial recoil.

Hence the 'recoil worth mentioning' qualifier.

[Elheru Aran]

Stephenson had head-guns in one of his novels, Diamond Age I think. There was definitely a recoil factor-- gave the shooters bad headaches though if they fired too often. Kinda nanowank though, IIRC.... but then nanowank *was* the whole book...

[Darth Nostril]

The skullguns, repetitive use would give the user serious headache plus they were very short range weapons, presumably because the recoil for long range would rip the users head clean off their shoulders. (I'm reading Diamond Age right now)