 |
Brainport Tongue Vision In Use By Navy SEALs
Soldiers have a lot of information to process; Army Rangers could use 360-degree vision, and Navy SEALs could use sonar vision under water. The Brainport can give it to them - through their tongues.
(Brainport tongue vision system test by Dr. Anil Raj)
The Brainport is a set of 144 microelectrodes that transmit information to the brain via the nerve fibers in the tongue. A narrow strip of red plastic connects a sonar device (or other source of live data) to the tongue of the user.
Veteran Navy Diver Michael Zinszer used it to sense compass direction and depth while in a swimming pool. He said it felt like having Pop Rocks candies on his tongue.
"You are feeling the outline of this image," he said. "I was in the pool, they were directing me to a very small object and I was able to locate everything very easily."
The device was pioneered more than thirty years ago by a University of Wisconsin neuroscientist, Dr. Paul Bach-y-Rita.
Right about now you might be thinking that the idea of being able to see with your tongue is too bizarre even for the world of science fiction. If so, you are wrong.
In the 1984 cult classic film The Adventures of Buckaroo Bonzai Across the 8th Dimension, Italian physicist Dr. Emilio Lizardo uses a tongue interface. In the film (take a deep breath here), Dr. Lizardo, in a failed attempt to create an oscillation overthruster, has his mind taken over by Lord John Whorfin, leader of the Red Lectroids, from another dimension. While imprisoned in an insane asylum, Whorfin/Lizardo constructs a device that lets him see into the past, clamping it carefully on to his tongue.
(Dr. Lizardo/Lord John Whorfin (John Lithgow) prepares his device)
I'm not going to claim this one as an sf prediction, because the purpose of the tongue clamp is not very well specified. However, this item leaves me up in the air on that whole "which is stranger - truth or fiction?" question.
Read more at Scientists Probe the Use of the Tongue.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 4/24/2006)
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 (Back On) ( 2 )
Related News Stories - (" Display ")
Samsung Smart TVs With Gesture Control
'He waved his hand and the circuit switched abruptly.'- Philip K. Dick, 1955.
Take An Infinite Walk In Flexible Spaces
'The walls began to purr and recede into crystalline distance, it seemed, and presently an African veldt appeared...'- Ray Bradbury, 1951.
HP 3D Display Images Hover Above Device
'Instantly there appeared standing upon the disk... a lifesize and moving and stereoscopically perfect image...'- Edmond Hamilton, 1928.
LCD-based Smart Contact Lens Display
'You've got DreamTime technology in contact lenses? That's not available to the public!'- Niven and Barnes, 1992.
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
MIT Robot Cheetah Video Shows Gait Transition
'The legs are long, curled way up to deliver power, like a cheetah's.'
TrackingPoint Smart Rifle
Not your typical 'smart bullet' approach.
'Hello, Computer!' Google Now Highlighted at IO13
'Hello, computer!'
Sky City's 220 Stories Are Go
'It rested among green parklands and... stood in total isolation, a glittering block of whites and flashing windows dotted with colors.'
CARMAT Bioprosthetic Total Human Heart Replacement
'George Walt's corporate existence proved the workability of wholly mechanical organs...'
Personal Sniffer Robots
'...The ticking combinations of the olfactory system of the hound.'
Physical Exam? We've Got Apps
See the future of handheld, personal medical devices.
The Interplanetary Internet, Vint Cerf Speaking
'This was the center of Interplanetary Communications.'
Drosophila Robotica, The Mechanical Fly
'... the Scarab [flying robot] buzzed into the great workroom as any intruding insect might...'
Robo-Raven Flapping Wing Robot Bird
'When he had first built them, they had been crude indeed, flying mechanisms with little more than a reflex-response unit.'
Japan's Nursing Home Robot Plan
Let's make the Roujin Z-0001 Robotic Bed!
Samsung Smart TVs With Gesture Control
'He waved his hand and the circuit switched abruptly.'
Swiss HCPVT Giant Photovoltaic 'Flower'
'...leaning against one of the slender stalks of a sunshade-photocell collector.'
Mini-Livers Made By 3D Printer
Organleggers may experience an employment downturn.
Smartphone Sensor System Tracks Gunfire
'Sound trackers on the roof could zero in on weapons action...'
Bacteria Now Make Biofuel Like Oil
'They have ... germs that eat pretty near anything, and produce oil as a waste product.'
