From: Hal Finney (hal@finney.org)
Date: Wed Nov 13 2002 - 08:32:02 MST
The December issue of Wired magazine has an article about extreme
possibilities for exploiting brain plasticity to add what are effectively
new senses. The idea is to take existing under-used but relatively
high-bandwidth sensory modalities, such as touch, and to convert other
information into a form where it can be perceived in this way.
One example given is by Paul Bach-y-Rita from U of Wisconsin. "His laest
technology sends visual data through the tongue, which is jam-packed
with nerves and coated with conductive saliva. A video camera worn on
the forehead sends miages to a laptop, which dumbs down the picture
to 144 pixels. That siganl is sent to a soviet-gray box, called a
Tactile Display Unit, which converts the image to electrical impulses.
The current winds up on a matrix of electrodes that tingle the image
onto the tongue. In lab tests, the system enabled blind people to
recognize letters, catch rolling balls, and watch candles flicker for
the first time."
They also describe experiments giving feedback to combat pilots by
embedding small vibration elements in their flight suits, and activating
them to increase spatial awareness. Another speculative use is for night
vision systems. Soldiers complain that the displays ruin their natural
night vision, so an alternative would be to use a tactile sensory mode
for the enhanced vision while leaving the eyes free to adapt to the dark.
The big question to me is whether the information that can be processed
in this way will be sufficiently detailed. The 144 pixels mentioned above
cover only a 12 by 12 grid. That would not be enough for a really useful
night-vision system. But do your tactile senses carry enough information
to increase this by two orders of magnitude? It's not clear where the
required bandwidth is going to come from.
Still it is interesting to imagine future possibilities for repurposing
some of our relatively little-used senses to better effect. I often
notice that when I drive my car or my bike, I seem to "feel" the roadway
through the tires. Or when you draw, you feel the texture of the paper
through your pencil or pen. This is a limited example of expanding our
tactile senses beyond the boundaries of skin. It may be possible to go
much farther in this direction.
Hal
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