Science Fiction
Dictionary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
 |
Tongue-Controlled Tong Wearable Mouth Computer
Tong, the wearable tongue-controlled computer, was created by designer Dorothee Clasen for her master's degree at Köln International School of Design. The wearable part of the device is a dental retainer fitted with a tongue-ball with a magnet on a set of rails on the underside. A wire connects the brace to a Wi-Fi transmitter that hooks behind the ear.
To make Tong, a snugly-fitting retainer was made from a dental imprint using polyethylene terephthalate glycol, or PETG, a type of thermoplastic. To make it safe as an oral device, Clasen used silicon instead of glue to attach all of the electronics. The electric cables are also covered with a thin layer of silicon so as to not shock the wearer.Developing and testing Tong was a unique challenge for the designer.
"Building a wearable for an area of your own body was a bit tricky," Clasen told Dezeen.
"Normally you could stick your design to another person's body and work on shaping details. But in this case, the device would only fit into my mouth. I could not put it in my mouth and work on its shape at the same time," she continued.
(Via Dezeen.)
Although this idea has been instantiated before (see Tongue Controller Uses Tongue Magnets [2008]), this is a very nice implementation of the idea.
Science fiction readers may recall the dental switchboard that Gully Foyle had installed; here's an excerpt from Alfred Bester's 1956 classic The Stars My Destination:
He pressed hard with his tongue against his right upper first molar. The operation that had transformed half his body into an electronic machine, had located the control switchboard in his teeth. Foyle pressed a tooth with his tongue and the peripheral cells of his retina were excited into emitting a soft light...
(Read more about Bester's dental switchboard)
Use your finger, not your tongue, to click on any of these tongue interface stories. Because this is Technovelgy, and we've got your weird tech stories covered.
- Tongue Drive System Validated In Clinical TrialAlso, fans of sf writer Greg Bear will recall the tongue mouse from his 2007 story Quantico.
- iLickit App Reveals iPhone Tongue Interface
- Intraoral Tongue Drive System
- Tongue Mouse Created By Valve Engineer
- Cyborg Eye Flashlight Lights Up The Room
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 1/9/2023)
Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |
Would
you like to contribute a story tip?
It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add
it here.
Comment/Join discussion ( 0 )
Related News Stories - (" Computer ")
AI Worms That Spread
'...there were so many worms and counterworms loose in the data-net now' - John Brunner, 1975.
Great. Now AIs Have Access To Hacking Tools
'... when you and the Flatline punch through that ice and scramble the cores.' - William Gibson, 1984.
Tongue-Controlled Tong Wearable Mouth Computer
'Griff found the white and pink map distracting and switched it off using his tongue mouse.' - Greg Bear, 2007.
Interpol Launches Metaverse For Law Enforcement
'CopSpace sheds some light on matters, of course. Blink and it descends in its full glory.' - Charles Stress, 2007.
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
1980's 1990's
2000's 2010's
Current News
Brin's 1990 Novel Earth Still Full Of Predictions
'... making the point that their likenesses, every move they made, were being transmitted.'
'Whisper Mode' ala Blue Thunder Researched At Bristol
'Forest Lawn.'
Gaia - Why Stop With Just The Earth?
'But the stars are only atoms in larger space, and in that larger space the star-atoms could combine to form living matter, thinking matter, couldn't they?'
Microsoft VASA-1 Creates Personal Video From A Photo
'...to build up a video picture would require, say, ten million decisions every second. Mike, you're so fast I can't even think about it. But you aren't that fast.'
Splendid View Of Eclipse From Orbit Visualized And Repurposed By Arthur C. Clarke
'The area affected was five hundred kilometres across, and perfectly circular.'
Bespoke Environment Music From AIs
'Call 'em Winter Mute," said the other, making it two words.'
Goldene - A Two-Dimensional Sheet Of Gold One Atom Thick
'Hasan always pitched a Gauzy - a one-molecule-layer tent, opaque, feather-light, and very tough.'
SpaceX Wants A Moonbase Alpha
'And he had been sent with troops, supplies and bombs to command Russia's most trusted post, the Moonbase.'
Vast Apartment Living Will Get Even More Vast
'What is your population', I asked. 'About eighty millions.'
NASA Wants Self-Driving Or Remote-Controlled Vehicles For Lunar Astronauts
'THE autobus turned silently down the wide street of Hydropole. Robot-guided, insulated from noise and cold...'
Elon Musk Says Robotaxis Will Be Ready This August, 2024
'The car had no steering wheel, and no one drove!'
Moonwalkers AI-Controlled Electric Shoes
Now that's power walking that Hugo Gernsback would have approved.
Steve Jobs: 'Capture The Next Aristotle - With AI'
'It was disturbing to think of the Flatline as a construct...'
No Tips! Robotic Food Delivery In Phoenix
'...he rewired the delivery robot so that it would serve him midnight snacks.'
Electric Catamaran 'Explorer Eco 40m' Has 'Solar Skin'
'On went the electric-yacht faster and still faster.'
Orbital Mechanics, The Liftoff, The Turnover, The Retrograde Burn
'...the huge vessel had spun, with a sickening lurch, through a complete half-circle, the instant the power was reversed.'
