Hi Subramani Saliva acts as a conductor and it is an important aspect for it to work.
It should not adversely effect the taste sense. It is also better than tinkering with the brain as what they do with the other varient of this technology. Harish Kotian ----- Original Message ----- From: "Subramani L" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Monday, August 24, 2009 7:58 PM Subject: Re: [AI] Tasting The Light - Device Lets The Blind See WithTheirTongues > Will it affect our taste buds? It shouldn't be the case of gaining a > sense at the expense of the other? Even if it doesn't, how ccould we > maintain the device since putting it over the tongue is likely to wet it > frequently? > > Subramani > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: [email protected] > [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of shahnaz > Sent: Monday, August 24, 2009 1:54 PM > To: [email protected] > Subject: [AI] Tasting The Light - Device Lets The Blind See With > TheirTongues > > August 13, 2009 > Tasting the Light: Device Lets the Blind "See" with Their Tongues > A pair of sunglasses wired to an electric "lollipop" helps the visually > impaired regain optical sensations via a different pathway > By Mandy Kendrick > > Neuroscientist Paul Bach-y-Rita hypothesized in the 1960s that "we see > with our brains not our eyes." Now, a new device trades on that thinking > and aims > to partially restore the experience of vision for the blind and visually > impaired by relying on the nerves on the tongue's surface to send light > signals > to the brain. > > Legal blindness is defined by U.S. law as vision that is 20/200 or > worse, or has a field of view that is less than 20 degrees in diameter. > The condition > afflicts more than one million Americans over the age of 40, according > to the National Institutes of Health. Adult vision loss costs the > country about > $51.4 billion per year. > > About two million optic nerves are required to transmit visual signals > from the retina-the portion of the eye where light information is > decoded or translated > into nerve pulses-to the brain's primary visual cortex. With BrainPort, > the device being developed by neuroscientists at Middleton, Wisc.-based > Wicab, > Inc. (a company co-founded by the late Back-y-Rita), visual data are > collected through a small digital video camera about 1.5 centimeters in > diameter that > sits in the center of a pair of sunglasses worn by the user. Bypassing > the eyes, the data are transmitted to a handheld base unit, which is a > little larger > than a cell phone. This unit houses such features as zoom control, light > settings and shock intensity levels as well as a central processing unit > (CPU), > which converts the digital signal into electrical pulses-replacing the > function of the retina. >>From the CPU, the signals are sent to the tongue via a "lollipop," an > electrode array about nine square centimeters that sits directly on the > tongue. Each > electrode corresponds to a set of pixels. White pixels yield a strong > electrical pulse, whereas black pixels translate into no signal. Densely > packed nerves > at the tongue surface receive the incoming electrical signals, which > feel a little like Pop Rocks or champagne bubbles to the user. > > It remains unclear whether the information is then transferred to the > brain's visual cortex, where sight information is normally sent, or to > its somatosensory > cortex, where touch data from the tongue is interpreted, Wicab > neuroscientist Aimee Arnoldussen says. "We don't know with certainty," > she adds. > Like learning to ride a bike > In any case, within 15 minutes of using the device, blind people can > begin interpreting spatial information via the BrainPort, says William > Seiple, research > director at the nonprofit vision healthcare and research organization > Lighthouse International. The electrodes spatially correlate with the > pixels so that > if the camera detects light fixtures in the middle of a dark hallway, > electrical stimulations will occur along the center of the tongue. > > "It becomes a task of learning, no different than learning to ride a > bike," Arnoldussen says, adding that the "process is similar to how a > baby learns > to see. Things may be strange at first, but over time they become > familiar." > > Seiple works with four patients who train with the BrainPort once a week > and notes that his patients have learned how to quickly find doorways > and elevator > buttons, read letters and numbers, and pick out cups and forks at the > dinner table without having to fumble around. "At first, I was amazed at > what the > device could do," he said. "One guy started to cry when he saw his first > letter." > > Wicab will submit BrainPort to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for > approval at the end of the month, says Robert Beckman, president and > chief executive > officer of the company. He notes that the device could be approved for > market by the end of 2009 at a cost of about $10,000 per machine. > > > > Looking for local information? Find it on Yahoo! Local > http://in.local.yahoo.com/ > > > > To unsubscribe send a message to [email protected] > with the subject unsubscribe. > > To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, > please visit the list home page at > > http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.i > n > > > > To unsubscribe send a message to [email protected] with > the subject unsubscribe. > > To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please > visit the list home page at > http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in To unsubscribe send a message to [email protected] with the subject unsubscribe. To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please visit the list home page at http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in
