 |
Fingersight Synesthesia Machine
Fingersight is a small device that can provide you with the synaesthetic ability to see what you can feel. Synaesthesia is a neurological phenomenon in which sensations in one form (like sight) can express in another form (like taste or sound).
(Fingersight Synesthesia (Synaesthesia) Machine)
We introduce here a concept we call Fingersight™, which may be embodied in a number of ways to provide a variety of different sensing and control devices for use as surrogates for vision and direct manipulation...There are two major components to the concept, relating respectively to sensing and controlling the environment... the sensory component was originally designed to assist the visually impaired. The introduction of control into Fingersight has expanded the potential target population to the general public, who could make use of it as an intuitive and possibly even enjoyable new form of remote control.
Tiny cameras are mounted on each fingertip, which can be used to sweep through the visual environment in three dimensions. The image from each camera is fed back to the fingertip to which it is connected. Each finger has its own receptive field, which is stimulated by a small solenoid-based vibrator.
Machine vision processing of the image from each fingertip yields information about edges, distance to objects and even texture. In this way, the operator can distinguish coffee mugs or doorknobs, "feeling" them at a distance.
The Fingersight device is a pretty good match (from the tactile point of view, anyway) for the twist box from Rudy Rucker's 1988 Wetware.
It was the day after Christmas, and Stahn was plugged in… The twist-box took his sensory input, jazzed it and passed it on to his cortex. A pure software high, and no somatic aftereffects. Staring out the window was almost interesting. The maggies left jagged trails and the people looked like actors.
(Read more about Rucker's twist box)
This brings us to a third use for Fingersight, namely, entertainment.
Watch a short video in which a guy describes his experience with synesthesia. See the original paper about the device - Fingersight: Fingertip Visual Haptic Sensing and Control. Via Fully-Functioning Synaesthesia Machine.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 1/3/2008)
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 ( 1 )
Related News Stories - (" Communication ")
Transparent Smartphone Prototype From Polytron
See through this future phone in a video.
Not Going To Google IO
'Those who could not come in person would watch these proceedings via the glittering transmitter eyes...'- Frank Herbert, 1977.
Dead Cellphone? Try Solar-Powered Public Charging Stations
'Then he saw the geek ... leaning against one of the slender stalks of a sunshade-photocell collector...'- David Brin, 1990.
Rats Communicate Brain-to-Brain
'Very useful gadget, but you can communicate with a computer about as well with a good briefcase console.'- Pournelle and Niven, 1981.
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.
Current News
Army's New Bird-Like Surveillance UAV
'The prototype blue-bellied, gray-backed tracer-bird with the wide-angle eye...'
Honda's Tumblebug - The UNI-CUB beta
'A tumblebug does not give a man dignity...'
NASA's LADEE Enters Lunar Orbit
'... dust normally on the surface picks up and keeps a charge.'
3D Printing An Entire Car
"... Almost as good as the original it was printed from."
Aldebaran Robot Talks Like C3PO - Almost
'See Vee Threepio - Vee for versatility - at your service...'
Google's Skin Tattoo Lie Detector
'Three and a half centimetres in diameter, permanently fixed in the centre of his forehead.'
inFORM Dynamic Shape Output Device
Like that pushpin device you remember, but supercharged.
Owlet Vitals, The Future Of Baby Monitoring
'In every diaper there is a fine copper wire...'
Robert Heinlein, Your Personal Electric Helicopter Will Be Ready In 2016
"They were half way home when a single flyer, hopping free in a copter harness, approached the little parade."
WildCat Runs Faster Than You, Untethered
'...moving with such drifting ease that it was like a single solid cloud of black-grey smoke blown at him in silence.' Almost.
HiBot's ACM-R5H Robot Video Shows Graceful Terminator-Style Swimming
'No! No! Aaaaaaarrrrrrgh!'
tDCS Jumpstarts Your Future
'We invented a scanner that can change the labyrinthine neural connections of the brain by tiny electronic impulses...'.
RealView Interactive Live Medical Holography
Surgeons can see an organ in its entirety in a live image.
Britney Spears And Lynn Minmay - Weapons Of Choice
An attack can take many forms.
Aireal Haptics Inching Towards Holodeck Experience
How to feel something that isn't there?
Starchase Pursuit Management ala Star Wars
Yes, but does it follow evil doers through hyperspace?
