Pretty Amazing -> Blind Soldier Can See Using Tongue

[mrmod]

Blind Soldier Given Revolutionary 'Sight'

Craig Lundberg, 24, who was blinded in a rocket-propelled grenade attack three years ago, is the first British soldier to test the BrainPort system.

The device consists of a high-tech 'lollipop' that rests on Craig's tongue. It converts images from a video camera, that he wears on a pair of glasses, into signals that stimulate electrodes on the lollipop.

The £10,000 device works on the principle of sensory substitution. The brain recognises that the signals stimulating the tongue have nothing to do with taste, and re-routes them to the visual centre of the brain for processing.

The brain is able to interpret the image, giving Craig rudimentary vision.

Read more of the article for extra details.

Basically he can now see things. Using his tongue. It's a very hard concept to grasp but it involves sensory buds.

Sure the image ain't the best, but this project has definitly alot of potential. Just imagine the relief. This is proper technology.

Do you think it's here to stay? I mean I hope it is. It's useful and simplifies things alot. Perhaps a bit too expensive at this stage but it's quite literally unbelievable. If someone had told me I would most likely doubt such a dubious story.

But it seems true. What do y'all think?

[billy]

yep, i do think it's here to stay.
they may change it, make it a patch on the skin or something else but i believe it will not only stay but be improved upon.

[billy]

Could someone use a technology like that to cheat at cards?

not sure about that technology,
but lots of technology has been used i'm sure

[srijantje]

yes,amazing,ofcourse it's gonna stay and improved upon,a patch on the forehead maybe?what about surround vision that way?

[mrmod]

I think they use the tongue because it has got alot of receptory nerves which you normally use for your taste but if you input signals of images the brain can still see them as images. If you get me.

It's hard to explain as none of us are actually blind

[mrmod]

But he's not really feeling. Or is he? I had the idea he was actually seeing images, but I dunno ....

[mrmod]

Dot matrix pin images on your tongue is far from seeing, but it is a form of communication.

So he feels them on his tongue or sees them in his head?

[mrmod]

But that's imaginary. Still haven't answered me hy:

[mrmod]

I'd certainly like it for blind people to have as normal eye sight but that's bordering impossible (and technically they wouldn't be blind then ). But at the moment it's the best thing and you need pioneers to break through, and then technology develops ridiculously fast.

The utensil ( my computer) with which I'm writing is proof of that.

EDIT: For billy, the utensil is my computer.

[billy]

the utensil computer? (i refuse to make a joke about it.)
what is it?

with the blind thing. if the optic nerve is okay, i think they can give an eye transplant. some work has been done with implants. i remember them testing a radar pack that you carry on your back (it's pretty big and bulky though). it seemed to allow blind people to maneuver round campus like bats.

another one was a chip implant in the head that sent an image to the brain in the form of dots that pin pointed outline. a bit like the dot vf spoke about. it wasn't sight by any means but in trials it allowed blind people to move around the house with out banging into moved furniture etc, by seeing edges and corners of objects that were cgi