BrainPort lets you see with your tongue, might actually make it to market
By Vlad Savov 
posted August 14th 2009 2:10PM
posted August 14th 2009 2:10PM
[Thanks, Toy]
posted August 14th 2009 2:10PM
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What this device needs is a voltage setting ^_^ BAD HUMAN, NO CROSS STREET!
On a completely serious note, that is probably what 'she said'
Hmm I wonder how well this would work on those who have been blind from birth. I know that's one of the problems with things like ocular implants since the vision processing areas of the brain for those people have been claimed by other sections and the brain literally has no idea how to process the information. Very interesting stuff...
You have a point: how extensively would the brain have to be retrained (assuming it could be done) to solve the issue?
One of their first test subjects was blind from birth. It worked with him just fine. I suspect that the image processing center isn't completely unused with blind people, because they might be processing some touch input through that region.
The visual centre of the brain is used for all the other senses in people who are blind from birth or from a very early age, so I'd rather see that being a benefit in this case. I'd imagine people who ended up blind later in life would benefit less from this, actually.
But I'm just a random internet commentator, so what do I know :)
@Sarig: That's true, but then it also means they can't use technology like ocular implants. However, if what Lars said is true then this looks like the solution to that problem.
I've spoken with the designers at Wicab before and how they explain it to me is that even though the scientists at Wicab are unsure exactly what takes place, your brain somehow gets "rewired" in a way in which your nervous system ports the information to the correct area of the brain to turn a picture into "sight". What's most interesting is that its actually more difficult for someone who can see normally to use this system to "see" than it is for someone who can't or could never see. They are also working on other applications for this device as well as figuring out exactly how much info you can pass through the tongue. This can lead to improved information transportation and allow for a better camera to be used to one day so that color and even better resolution can be "seen" via the tongue. They also have a similar device to help people with inner ear problems regain the ability to walk.
Then when you see a girl walking infront of blunt objects over and over, you'll know why!
So if a lady attaches this to her nether regions, and watches say, an erotic film... COULD THIS MEAN THE END OF PROCREATION IN HUMANS?!
amazing
This shit is so cool. When these get more advanced, switch the camera to infared.
Why? They're blind and can't see the difference in color anyway...
Because then they can see in the dark and become blind ninjas.
Duh.
If the non-blind can use this with an infared camera. Double vision! (the brain will figure it out)
That is an amazing step in the right direction... Very cool to see his daughter interacting with him and helping him explore the frontiers of this technology!!
Oh yeah, her daughter interacting and lying to her poor blind dad about the game they are playing. He raised a real winner!
Wow I see that someone's parents never taught them a sense of humor.
lying to blind people to win a game, is not a sense of humor I enjoy. If you think it's funny to play "move the table" with blind people, that is your problem.
I remember seeing a show on the creation of this device a while back. Pretty interesting in that it actually works fairly well.
I would change two things about it though. First off, design the tongue-piece to be able to remain in the mouth to let the person speak instead of having to constantly remove and replace it. Secondly, I don't know if head-mounting the camera is the best thing because even though our eyes are mounted there, our eyes are moving independently. I don't know, maybe hand-mounted cameras or something... I suppose in the future it may be possible to have cameras implanted in our eyes for this. I mean, ocular implants do exist, but don't work for this particular type of blindness.
Considering their organic eyes are useless... why not remove them and place stereo cameras in their place. The muscles used to direct eye movement could direct the cameras. Combine that with wireless transmission and a tongue piece that is flexible enough to remain in the mouth for long periods and allow normal speech.
@DraconianSoul, a couple of thoughts on that one:
The installation and maintenence would probably be highly invasive.
The power supply would likely be an issue.
Would have to be waterproof.
It would probably look pretty scary, and covering it with dark sunglasses would assume a more expensive camera.
If it were a more advanced sensory restoration (something with higher resolution, for example), it might be worth the trade-off of ditching your real eyes, but some people might be more attached to them, even if they don't work. I imagine it would be in line with removing a paralized arm and replacing it with an awkward robotic stick.
Wow, just wow. Pretty touching too!
My only question is why the tongue? Could you potentially put something like this on your palm or somewhere else so that you could speak and 'see' at the same time?
I'd imagine the tongue would be way more sensitive than your palm, so that's why they choose it.
@cloud,
I think you're right that they choose the tongue because it has more nerve endings or something, but with much advancement, couldn't they make implants that replace the eye and connect the current pad for the tongue to the nerve in the back of the eye. (Assuming that's how it works, and only for people who lost vision because of damage to the eyes or similar)
and almost everyone has a tongue.
I was just thinking about this as I read the article. Why not, instead, create a contact lens of sorts that does the same thing, but to the actual eye? The eye is extremely sensitive, so I'm sure they could do this with a really low voltage. Heck, it could probably be made wireless, like how Wacom pens are powered through the tablet.
Why dont they use an even more sensitive place than the tongue though then? I can think of 2 places.....1)pull out their broken eyes and jab that sucker in there or 2) put it down your pants
"Stop tasting at my boobs"...
or..
(watching a porno with it)... "This is nice, oh wait, hey... get that out of my mouth dude..."...
wow, this is amazing.
"..even read large writing."
WAT?
blind guy has a pretty nice TV...
I heard an anecdote before about a researcher giving some people glasses that flip the image to the eyes, and after some time the brain recognized 'up' and inverted the image - then when they remove the glasses they feel upside down again. I would actually not be that surprised anymore if this sort of thing (attaching one sense to another) could work(and do it well).
I remember seeing something similar to this on Nova about 30 years ago. They had a camera hooked up to a device that had a grid of vibrating pins that the blind person wore on their back, or maybe it was mounted to the back of a chair that you would sit on. I remember they showed a woman who had never seen a candle flame before, and although she knew that a candle's wick was on fire, she was amazed at how beautiful the dance of the flame was. 30 years later, and this is the only progress they've made?
No, in fact theyve been putting these chips directly on the surface on the brain for a while now.
The latest hotness is moving chips of the back of the eye and trying to interface with the optic nerve:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4411591.stm
In the book "brain changes itself", they describe this device and how the brain uses it in details. A person blind or not, can get good enough with this device to catch a baseball thrown at them.
Oh yeah, one more thing,
the device is also used to help people whose Eustachian tubes are broken. Your Eustachian tubes are inside your ear and allow you to balance. If they are broken, you cannot even stand up straight, or sit straight. All you want to do is lie down, and even then you feel like your world is spinning around.
What the device does in this case, is allow you to gain a sense of balance by sending you signals about your center of gravity instead of visual stimuli. What your brain does if figure out how to find a sense of balance with using your Eustachian tubes. Eventually, your brain won't need the device anymore for balance. In other words, the device is used to aid the brain to rewire itself.
Anyways, this blurb of info is also in "brain that changes itself". Check it out. It's a pretty good read.
Sorry, I meant Vestibular tubes, not Eustachian tubes.
Read the book On Innovation - it explains how these sorts of devices work and how the brain adapts to "see" using the tongue. It turns out the brain doesn't care it the input comes from eyes, ears, touch, or tongue... to the brain (internally) it's all the same.
Alright. thanks for that reference. I'll read that too. :)
You might want to also read "Overflowing Brain", has a blurb on how they took the optic nerve of a cat, and fed it into the cat's auditory cortex. The cat's eye sight was restored, but now it was using it's auditory cortex to process visual stimuli.
anyways, "Overflowing Brain" is about, mostly, the parietal lobe and working memory, attention, and IQ. Great read if you're into neuroscience like I am.
Also, this is one of several approaches. There are approaches that directly stimulate the retina, the optic nerve, or the visual cortex of the brain, but those are more invasive. (And, in the case of stimulating the visual cortex, has a decently high risk of seizures.)
This is a simpler way to do things that would be simpler to implement (no need to map out the phosphenes that the user's brain sees,) more usable for those that have been blind for long periods of time or from birth, safer, and probably cheaper, although with lower resolution and less convenience (because of having to have something in your mouth.)
This is old news as Second Sight created this device several years ago.
So... what happens if you put this in a person who can see? I'm guessing nothing, unless they close their eyes.
People who can see can use this, too, but it takes quite a while (1-2hrs) for your brain to figure out how to process the information being sent from your tongue. I asked them that one time I was in the offices there.
When it comes packaged with Modern Warfare 3, I'm sold
Heh, my dad is participating in a medical study with this device, its really strange.
He had an acoustic neuroma (vestibular schwanoma) which is a brain tumor on your vestibular nerve and causes a lot of balance issues, so far, it hasn't helped but who knows if we've got the "sugar pill (forget the name)" one.
It looks quite strange as it hangs from your neck and stick it on your tongue.
Although, there must be different versions because this one doesnt have the bulky camera thing.
So, if you're in a locker room and the camera sees a penis, do you taste...
Wow.......playing mystical music really makes you feel like its amazing........but the tongue crap is just that, crap. Get a better route of administration!!! (or input to the brain w.e, same thing)
they just need to pioneer ocular implants, jeez.
this would be fun as fack in a rave though... tingly sensations on your tongue while on E that cause you to see?!?!?! WTF IT FEELS SOOOOO GOOOOD