Touching is Believing
Snakes use their tongues to smell, so why cant we use our tongues to see? Actually, a snakes olfactory receptors are simply located on the tongue, whereas our's are located in the nostrils. But Roger Behm, tester for a recent trial run of a device called Brainport, has lost his sense of vision altogether, at least through the eyes, as both were surgically removed. Through research that began as early as 1960, blind people can now "see" what functioning eyes see as blurry.
The device, Brainport, can be slipped over one's head very easily, as it resembles a pair of sunglasses, upon which a small camera is mounted. The light captured by the camera is converted to electrical impulses by a computer and sent to the tongue via 100 electrodes which in turn are transmitted to the area of the brain responsible for vision. Here the image turns back into black and white images that the user's mind sees. To a peron with vision this would of course be a down grade, as the low resolution produces not only blurry objects but objects with merely variances in light (without color). Coming from a background of blindness however, that moment of visual clarity upon donning the apparatus is likely to be the most rewarding moment of one's life. With it the blind can see depth, dimension, size and shape as the electrical impulses are spatially encoded. Roger can identify numbers, letters, pepsi cans, and even moving objects. Roger is also the first blind man to conquer Mt. Everest, the most stunning feat providing testimony of Brainport's efficacy.
This whole phenomenon is made possible by what scientists term, "sensory substitution," where the nervous system can actually use other senses to replace the one that is destroyed. Note that this is different from blind people enhancing all other senses as a result of blindness, which is a different phenomenon. For example, MRI images show high activity in the visual cortex when the fingertip's sensors relay the information up to the brain. So, it is no wonder why the tongue is utilized by Brainport, as the tongue is the most sensitive touch organ, after the lips, not to mention its proximity to the brain.
Although the fields of optics and electricity do not really grasp my attention as much as others such as fluid flow and hemodynamics, I always tell people that if I lose my sight, its all over. From what I hear, others share this outlook; If they had the choice of only one sense, what would it be? Its usually sight. This, coupled with the fact that people seeing without eyes is simply beyond belief, is why I find it universal enough to share with my classmates, no matter what the major.
http://www.eyeway.org/seeing-with-your-tongue-brainport-device-brings-sight-to-the-blind
The device, Brainport, can be slipped over one's head very easily, as it resembles a pair of sunglasses, upon which a small camera is mounted. The light captured by the camera is converted to electrical impulses by a computer and sent to the tongue via 100 electrodes which in turn are transmitted to the area of the brain responsible for vision. Here the image turns back into black and white images that the user's mind sees. To a peron with vision this would of course be a down grade, as the low resolution produces not only blurry objects but objects with merely variances in light (without color). Coming from a background of blindness however, that moment of visual clarity upon donning the apparatus is likely to be the most rewarding moment of one's life. With it the blind can see depth, dimension, size and shape as the electrical impulses are spatially encoded. Roger can identify numbers, letters, pepsi cans, and even moving objects. Roger is also the first blind man to conquer Mt. Everest, the most stunning feat providing testimony of Brainport's efficacy.
This whole phenomenon is made possible by what scientists term, "sensory substitution," where the nervous system can actually use other senses to replace the one that is destroyed. Note that this is different from blind people enhancing all other senses as a result of blindness, which is a different phenomenon. For example, MRI images show high activity in the visual cortex when the fingertip's sensors relay the information up to the brain. So, it is no wonder why the tongue is utilized by Brainport, as the tongue is the most sensitive touch organ, after the lips, not to mention its proximity to the brain.
Although the fields of optics and electricity do not really grasp my attention as much as others such as fluid flow and hemodynamics, I always tell people that if I lose my sight, its all over. From what I hear, others share this outlook; If they had the choice of only one sense, what would it be? Its usually sight. This, coupled with the fact that people seeing without eyes is simply beyond belief, is why I find it universal enough to share with my classmates, no matter what the major.
http://www.eyeway.org/seeing-with-your-tongue-brainport-device-brings-sight-to-the-blind
posted by kevin wood at 9:05 AM
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