BrainPort Allows People To Reclaim Damaged Senses

Karma Star writes "There is a news article on a new device called a BrainPort, which is special device that is worn like a helmet, with a strip of tape containing an array of 144 microelectrodes hanging off the headset which is placed on the tongue. The BrainPort then sends signals to the tongue which are then picked up by the brain, allowing the user to regain otherwise lost sensory input. More at the NY Times (soul stealing subscription required)."

Thats great

[Anonymous Coward]

Can I use it to recover my sense of humour?

Just one question.

[TrollBridge]

Can I wear it over my tin-foil hat?

Big deal

[LouCifer]

Back when I was in highschool, I'd put a little piece of paper on my tounge and in about an hour I'd get the sensation of flight, could "see" sound, speak to animals and the like.

Plus, I didnt have to wear a helmet when I dropped acid.

Confused senses

[freeze128]

This music tastes Great!

Mmmmm

[skraps]

This story tastes delicious.

I hope they have a good attorney

[dr_dank]

Their Product [nytimes.com]

Prior art? [google.com]

This reminds me...

[mark-t]

The textual description of this... "The strip was wired to a kind of carpenter's level, which was mounted on a hard hat that she placed on her head...". for some reason, the image that unavoidably comes to mind is that of Doctor Who's classic Cybermen.

Already exists

[Rosco P. Coltrane]

A two-electrode version of this device exists in the form of licking 9V batteries, to give users the sense of whether 9V batteries are dead. It also works to test the main I hear...

Re:Yes but

[mfender9]

Well, then you'd just spend your life watching Julia Roberts movies and not worry about it...

Tastes Great

[RealProgrammer]

Less filling!

But you'll still be stuck in engineering while a guy with a positronic brain gets all the action.

The only problem with this

[Anonymous Coward]

Everything either feels, tastes, or smells like chicken.

Oh dear

[Rosco P. Coltrane]

From the article:

Surgeons can feel on their tongues the tip of a probe inside a patient's body, enabling precise movements.

A whole new range of experiences for surgeons performing coloscopies, no doubt.

Re:Mmmmm

[Anonymous Coward]

Aaargh. Don't look at the sun!

ouch..

I alwedy haf one of fese.

[eric2hill]

Fey work gweaf an I can feel ftuff I nefer fought I could!

Re:The only problem with this

[Tablizer]

Everything either feels, tastes, or smells like chicken.

Dude, we DON'T want to hear about your porn preferences

Re:Thats great

[gmuslera]

This will give a whole new meaning for bad taste jokes.

Re:The only problem with this

[igny]

Some people also sound, look and post like chicken.

You just know....

[leereyno]

That someone is going to apply this to their nether-regions, if they haven't already.

Ralph says

[WoodenRobot]

"It tastes like ... burning"

Re:Already exists

[Anonymous Coward]

It tastes like... burning.

Re:This reminds me...

[plover]

You're lucky. The images this reminds me of are more like Mr. Garrison's "Segway" invention (on South Park, just before the release of the "real" Segway.)

It was controlled by a "probe".

Re:Taste

[LiquidCoooled]

When the computer detects a threat it can stimulate the pilots tongue in relation to the direction and distance of the target.

What would it taste of?

Normal day: "Mmmmmmm beer"

Real emergency: "EWWWWW SPROUTS!!! GET ME OUT OF HERE!"

This sounds familure...

[east coast]

Something about the size of a postage stamp, put on the tounge, and it brgins back lost sensations? I think Timothy Leary was heading down this very path a few years back...

Buckaroo Banzai

[LooseCannon74502181]

The writers from The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension should sue for stolen IP. Lizardo was using that thing 20 years ago.

Re:Taste

[Tackhead]

> Picture this:
>
> Fighter helmet with mouth piece that sits against the pilots tongue. When the computer detects a threat it can stimulate the pilots tongue in relation to the direction and distance of the target. After a little training this sort of thing would really increase reaction time.
>
> Though it would make a conversation with the tower a bit tough :)

You must taste... in Russian!

In Thoviat Rutthia, Firefoth flieth thoo? [imdb.com]

"Thyre rearwurdth mitthile, dammit!"
[nothing happens]
"Mmmmm.... Borscht!"
[*KABOOM*, second Firefox burninated]
"Better ithe up a cold one boyth, I'th comin' home!"

Re:Confused senses

[sehryan]

Shhhh...you smell something?

A Special Message From Your "President":

[Anonymous Coward]

Hello. My name is George W. Bush. I was reselected as your 44th "President" of the United Gulags of America.

Will BrainPort let me use Faith, Family, and Values [whitehouse.org]to decrease the ballooning federal deficit; lower
interest rates; and strengthen the faultering U.S. dollar?

Regards,

George W. Bush

The electrodes on the tongue

[multiplexo]

work better to restore a sense of vision than do earlier attempts to restore the sense of taste by dripping Tabasco [tabasco.com] into people's eyeballs.

Re:Confused senses

[Leibherk]

Turn on the light I cant hear!

Copy of the New York Times article

[Jah-Wren Ryel]

In recent years, science fiction has suffered a great decline in quality of content, in no small part due to the excessive commercialization of unimaginative "world of..." series.

So science has had to look to other forms of art for inspiration and development of new technologies. Scientists at Brain-Port Inc have found their new beacon of innovation in that aging rocker, Ozzy Osbourne.

During the development of the Brain-Port tonque interface, it was code-named the "Fly High Helmet" after Ozzy's song, "Fly High Again" in which he asked the question -- "Swallowing colors of the sound I hear, am I just a crazy guy?"

Brain-Port is rumoured to be working on another product which they are calling the "Hagar Helmet." Expected to be a huge boon to the auto insurance industry, the Hagar Helmet is designed to prevent the wearer from exceeding the speed limit. The exact mechanism by which it ensures that the wearer can only drive 55 is considered one of Brain-Port's most valuable trade secrets.

Re:Taste

[karnal]

I just licked my monitor. My tongue couldn't read your post, though....

Re:Already exists

[BarryJacobsen]

A two-electrode version of this device exists in the form of licking 9V batteries, to give users the sense of whether 9V batteries are dead.

Yes, but if unreliable internet sources have taught me anything, it's that 3 people die each year from trying this! That's almost as scary as this hydrogen dioxide problem!

Re:The only problem with this

[Rufus88]

From parent's sig:

In theory there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice there is. - Yogi Berra

In theory, there is no difference between Yogi Berra and Albert Einstein. In practice, there is.

Re:Big deal

[BorgCopyeditor]

Plus, I didnt have to wear a helmet when I dropped acid.

No, but it might have been a good idea. :-)

Re:Confused senses

[plover]

"I frequently perceive pain as sound,"

And I frequently perceive sound as pain, especially when it's Gangsta Rap or Country & Western.