BrainPort Allows People To Reclaim Damaged Senses 216
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)."
Yes but (Score:4, Interesting)
Taste (Score:3, Interesting)
Im sure having some gadget sticking in your mouth and a huge helmet on your head would make you a hit with the ladies too!
Seriously though.. I could see applications for this.
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
Eyes in the back of my head (Score:1, Interesting)
Re:Already exists (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Confused senses (Score:5, Interesting)
I'm fortunate that my case is very mild; if it hadn't been for a number of conversations in early adolescence where I tried to describe something using adjectives that made perfect sense to me but not to others, I would never have known I'm different. In high school orchestra, most of the other kids could understand when I'd describe the sound of a viola as warm, or a piccolo as cold... but they'd have no idea what I meant when I started describing the grain of the viola sound (looks a lot like highly-polished oak under a tungsten lamp), or the brilliant white light of a b# played in second position on a violin's E string.
I read years ago in the Washington Post about a case of a fellow who was much more severely affected than I. Instead of seeing the sounds overlayed on the 'normal' visual field, and being able to easily distinguish what was seen with the eyes vs what was seen through hearing, his senses were so crosswired that this was no longer possible. The anecdote given in the story was that he stopped to buy something from a street vendor (ice cream, I think). But when the vendor spoke, his voice looked to the synaesthete like charcoal bricks falling out of the guy's mouth. The article said he hadn't been able to eat ice cream (or whatever the food was) since then. Like I said, I'm fortunate. My symptoms are thoroughly enjoyable & have never presented problems like that.
Re:NYT Article Text (Score:4, Interesting)
Same thing with writing and typing. I usually don't even think of the individual letters that I need to put down. I don't even deliberate over the words that I use. I just kinda think of the topic, and then my fingers move. When I want, I can then enact tighter control by switching my focus.
In fact, when typing, I usually don't even notice the keyboard, or most of the OS. Right now I guess I am thinking about interacting with this little box, not even noticing the rest of the page.
Interesting how the brain adapts (Score:2, Interesting)
One interesting (at least to me) part was an experiment where he linked an ultrasonic distance sensor (worn on a hat) to his arm. As something got closer, the pulses became more rapid.
With his eyes open, he could sense the pulses, but not really make sense of them. When he was wearing a blindfold, someone moved quickly towards him. Instinctively, he stepped back out of their way.
It goes to show just how quickly the brain can learn to adapt, and potentially this could have a huge future if it's successful. I have to admit I don't see the point in using the tongue, but Warwick's method of using an implant and a nerve now definitely merits more investigation.
Potential Torture Devices -- China (Score:0, Interesting)
If the Chinese knew how these new sensory devices work, the Chinese would just modify them to deliver excruciating pain to the brain. I hope that we keep these technologies secret, for the risk of abusing them is quite high.
Re:Biological Screen Saver? (Score:3, Interesting)
Overdeveloping happens when you adjust to the conditions around you so that you can continue to function.
If this doesn't actually provide better real sensory input, they'd still develop other abilities to compensate. If it does, then they don't need them.
I suppose you could say, "but then what would they do without the machine?" Well, a lot of people can't see without glasses. Should they be forced to not wear them so that their other senses can develop more fully? It seems always better to give people more opportunity.
Also, the ability to interpret sensory input is based upon practice. Because I worked at it, I can hear a lot better than most people - even than most blind people, I think. There's no reason that anyone can't have overdeveloped senses, but it takes work, and it's not worth it for most people.
Re:Confused senses (Score:3, Interesting)
When most people "associate imagery" with music, that is exactly what we do - we connect some image that seems suitable, with the music, coloured by our experiences, what we know about the music etc.
When someone with synesthesia see a colour when they hear a note, that is exactly what it means, and that colour is tied to that specific note irrespective of experience, memory etc.
The images I associate with a piece of music change all the time depending on whether I perhaps learn something else about the music, or have an experience related to the music or thousands of other reasons.
The colours someone who "sees music" as a result of synesthesia experience normally stays the same throughout life, and are equivalent of the experience of seeing, not of association or "picturing" something.
Re:Confused senses (Score:5, Interesting)
Anyway, I'm interested in your challenge, but I don't understand what you mean by 'You have to tell me which version each recording represents'. As you pointed out, C and B# are the same thing. As far as finger position, I don't really care if it's fourth-finger in 1st position or 1st finger in 3rd position, it's still the same note with the same color and shape. No, I wouldn't be able to tell the difference. I don't claim to have perfect pitch-- or anywhere near it, for that matter, which is why I never went beyond high school orchestra.
As much as I love Vivaldi's Four Seasons, particularly the Presto from Summer, I can't really agree that the compositions you mention are visual at all. Beethoven's Egmont Overture has moments where it's extremely visual, but not those two.
Interestingly, one bit of music that always has the same visual dynamics for me isn't classical at all. It's Genesis' The Brazillian (the last track on Invisible Touch). I've tried to paint it and/or draw it a few times, but lack the talent to do so properly; the only description I can give of it is that it has the dynamics of a water show with the speed and versatility of a laser-light show. Listen to it some time when you have a spare three minutes (about all the time it takes to play it). There are certain auditory cues in the track that I actually see-- a synthetic drum playing a sound that I can only describe as looking like Edgerton's frozen milk-drop photograph, for instance (except not frozen in this case, just slow-motioned).
I have no ability to prove you wrong in your challenge that I see sounds. You have no way to prove me wrong when I assert that you see the color blue the same way I see the color red. So, how many angels can dance on the head of a pin?
Re:Confused senses (Score:3, Interesting)
Pattern Learning and Recall... (Score:3, Interesting)
The book goes into very great detail, but it presents a model of the neocortex fairly different from that of other models, while at the same time building upon earlier work (like neural networks). Hawkins isn't proposing to build a human mind, but rather an "artificial neocortex". He deliberately ignores (though while acknowledges them) the effects other areas of the brain has on the neocortex (I don't think it is because he thinks they don't have anything to do with thinking, or that they aren't needed - I think he simply wants to understand and be able to use the neocortex for machine thinking, which would be radically different from human). His model, while different in subtle ways, seems similar to experiments and devices Igor Aleksander [techdirections.com] has built (interestingly, you don't here much about this individual - he isn't presented in Hawkins' book, and other AI books I have read don't mention his work, either - I tend to wonder if these two individuals will go down like Charles Babbage did - thier work highly relevant, perhaps even precient - but not used because they became obscure - for instance, when ENIAC was designed and built, none of the people involved had heard of Babbage!).
What is really crazy, and I hesitate to link it, because this individual is known as an extreme crank in AI circles - alright, those of you who know who I am talking about will know who I mean, so I won't mention him by name or moniker - is that Hawkins' ideas and model seem to be very similar (though developed in a different way) to that other individual's model. While Mr. M's model is convoluted, and serial like (with attendent streams of information flowing facilitating recall of thoughts/ideas/abstractions) - Mr. Hawkin's model of the neocortex is very similar in scope - only doing the same type of learning and recall using strict hierarchical, interrelated networks of neurons.
He comes away showing how, in the neocortex, all patterns are the same, in that for instance, knowing how a sentence is written or spoken activates the same patterns. These patterns, while they are learned, and later played back - cause other patterns to fire off and playback (or be learned, if only slightly) - which is why a song or the taste of a certain food, sometimes brings back certain feelings and thoughts - because the playback of what the pattern of the taste of the food causes the same/similar triggers to cause playback of the patterns for those thoughts and feelings. The concept of feedback in learning is the important part...
I encourage *everyone interested in this kind of computing* to pick up Hawkins' book, as well as Aleksander's book (and, I would implore you to (re)read Mr. M's ideas with a fresh mind, in the context of the models presented by Hawkins and Aleksander, and see if you don't agree that all seem to be studying similar paths in the same goal of what creates consciousness and intelligence - you may come back surprised)...
More than just 'sensory substitution' (Score:2, Interesting)
This is why the lady who lost her sense of balance was able to go outside & dance around WITHOUT THE HELMET after the initial trial. Dr. Bach-y-Rita has a promo video showing this; I couldn't find any link. It is also why there is hope of using this for rehabilitative therapy.
When I heard him lecture, my thoughts went something like this: Sweet!! I can use it to develope synesthesia without dropping acid!
Loss of Senses (Score:2, Interesting)
What about using this for Augmented Reality? (Score:2, Interesting)
Normally, cameras and monitors (goggles, etc) are used to blend additional information into what you would normally see. But using additional senses for it would be interesting, too. At least, I think it would.
Wonder if your brain would be able to take other additional non-visual inputs and kinda-sorta internally superimpose them onto your vision, or if things would get confused because you would have two different sets of sensory input trying to accomplish the same goal (both visual and tactile inputs for visual information, for example).
Either way, this whole thing sounds cool to me, and I would be really interested in seeing how far its use can go.
Peace!