Whiteknight
04-25-2006, 9:37 PM
Check out the article here (http://lfpress.ca/newsstand/News/International/2006/04/25/1548899-sun.html)
Basically the article desibes how, by using our tongue, we can send information straight to the brain. This can allow us to have a sort of "echolocation" or SONAR where we can "feel or see" around us without moving our head.
A narrow strip of red plastic connects the Brain Port to the tongue, where 144 microelectrodes transmit information through nerve fibres to the brain. Instead of holding and looking at compasses and bulky hand-held sonar devices, the divers can processes the information through their tongues, said Anil Raj, the project's lead scientist.
"You are feeling the outline of this image," he said. "I was in the pool, they were directing me to a very small object and I was able to locate everything very easily."
This will not only help the military, but only those with disabilites, such as blindness.
In testing, blind people found doorways, noticed people walking in front of them and caught balls. A version of the device, expected to be commercially marketed soon, has restored balance to those whose vestibular systems in the inner ear were destroyed by antibiotics.
I'm really excited for this technology. A part of it is already being planned for commercial use, but imagine all the other uses for this application! This could benefit a lot of people.
Basically the article desibes how, by using our tongue, we can send information straight to the brain. This can allow us to have a sort of "echolocation" or SONAR where we can "feel or see" around us without moving our head.
A narrow strip of red plastic connects the Brain Port to the tongue, where 144 microelectrodes transmit information through nerve fibres to the brain. Instead of holding and looking at compasses and bulky hand-held sonar devices, the divers can processes the information through their tongues, said Anil Raj, the project's lead scientist.
"You are feeling the outline of this image," he said. "I was in the pool, they were directing me to a very small object and I was able to locate everything very easily."
This will not only help the military, but only those with disabilites, such as blindness.
In testing, blind people found doorways, noticed people walking in front of them and caught balls. A version of the device, expected to be commercially marketed soon, has restored balance to those whose vestibular systems in the inner ear were destroyed by antibiotics.
I'm really excited for this technology. A part of it is already being planned for commercial use, but imagine all the other uses for this application! This could benefit a lot of people.