[optacon-l] Re: Seeing with your tongue.
- From: "H & C Arnold" <4carolyna@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <optacon-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 7 Jun 2009 15:13:38 -0400
Effie, I wonder too about the eating and drinking with the thing on the
tongue, then, having to be blind, surely, for brushing teeth. I have an idea
that it might be about the size of a hearing aid battery and have a tiny
wire that would run from the mouth to a head set. Otherwise, what would keep
anyone from swallowing it?
In God We Trust,
Carolyn
----- Original Message -----
From: "Effie Boyd" <starlyte@xxxxxxxx>
To: <optacon-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Sunday, June 07, 2009 3:01 PM
Subject: [optacon-l] Re: Seeing with your tongue.
>A tooth guard is to keep you from gritting your teeth. I don't see how you
> eat with that thing on your tongue. Do you have to use it one time, all
> the
> time or part of the time.
>
>
>
> God bless you,
> Effie
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Nick Dotson" <nickdotson@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> To: <optacon-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Sent: Saturday, June 06, 2009 8:43 PM
> Subject: [optacon-l] Re: Seeing with your tongue.
>
>
>> What on earth is a "tooth guard" pray tell, an ignorant redneck from the
>> Redneck Riviera wants--perhaps needs to know? (grin)
>>
>> Nick
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: <Gailselfridge@xxxxxxx>
>> To: <optacon-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>> Sent: Saturday, June 06, 2009 8:28 PM
>> Subject: [optacon-l] Re: Seeing with your tongue.
>>
>>
>>> I'd try it, but I'm doubtful. First I agree that I don't think I'd like
>>> the
>>> sensation on my tongue. Second, it would depend on how much sight you'd
>>> get. Would it be worth it? Just to be able to see where objects were
>>> well
>>> enough to pick them up, that wouldn't be enough for me. Now if I could
>>> read
>>> print again or have any distance vision, that might be worth it.
>>> Thirdly,
>>> how
>>> expensive would this thing be? Could any of us ever afford it? Probably
>>> not.
>>>
>>> Gail
>>>
>>> I agree with Cindy. I tried a tooth guard and threw it away. I don't
>>> think
>>> I would like the sensation either. God bless you, Effie
>>> God bless you,
>>> Effie
>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>> From: "Cindy Handel" <_cindy425@xxxxxxxxxxxx
>>> (mailto:cindy425@xxxxxxxxxxx)
>>>>
>>> To: <_optacon-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx (mailto:optacon-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx) >
>>> Sent: Saturday, June 06, 2009 4:41 PM
>>> Subject: [optacon-l] Re: Seeing with your tongue.
>>>>I thought about how it would feel. I'm not sure I'd like the sensation
>>>>on
>>>> my tongue.
>>>>
>>>> Cindy
>>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>>> From: "Sharon Lash" <_slash591@xxxxxxxxxxx (mailto:slash591@xxxxxxxxxx)
>>>> >
>>>> To: <_optacon-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx (mailto:optacon-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx) >
>>>> Sent: Saturday, June 06, 2009 5:28 PM
>>>> Subject: [optacon-l] Re: Seeing with your tongue.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Wow! What a magnificent article. I would love to get a hold of that
>>>> device!
>>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>>> From: "H & C Arnold" <_4carolyna@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>>> (mailto:4carolyna@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx) >
>>>> To: <_optacon-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx (mailto:optacon-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx) >
>>>> Sent: Tuesday, May 26, 2009 9:14 AM
>>>> Subject: [optacon-l] Seeing with your tongue.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>> Seeing with your tongue.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> By RON SEELY, 608-252-6131, _rseely@xxxxxxxxxxxx
>>> (mailto:rseely@xxxxxxxxxxx)
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> Roger Behm lost his sight at 16, the victim of an inherited
>>>>>>>>> disease
>>>>>>>>> that
>>>>>>>>> destroyed his retinas. Both of his eyes were surgically removed.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> Now 55, Behm has made himself at home in a sightless world. He
>>>>>>>>> started
>>>>>>>>> his own
>>>>>>>>> business in Janesville selling devices that help the blind cope
>>> with
>>>>>>>>> day-to-day tasks. He and his wife have raised five children and
>>>>>>>>> just
>>>>>>>>> adopted another child from China who is also blind. He fishes,
>>>>>>>>> canoes,
>>>>>>>>> camps and scuba dives.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> But Behm can remember seeing. Which is why he couldn't believe it
>>>>>>>>> when,
>>>>>>>>> three
>>>>>>>>> years ago, he slipped a device over his head, turned it on, and
>>>>>>>>> was
>>>>>>>>> once
>>>>>>>>> again
>>>>>>>>> able to discern light and dark, shapes and shadows, letters and
>>>>>>>>> numbers,
>>>>>>>>> and even a rolling golf ball.
>>>>>>>>> "I could look down and and see the ball, white on black, and I
>>> could
>>>>>>>>> see myself
>>>>>>>>> swinging my putter," Behm said. "And, of course, I missed. But I
>>>>>>>>> could
>>>>>>>>> reach
>>>>>>>>> down and pick up my ball, like any other sighted person."
>>>>>>>>> The device is called BrainPort and, though it seems like a
>>>>>>>>> gadget
>>>>>>>>> from
>>>>>>>>> Star Trek, it may be available commercially by the end of the
>>>>>>>>> year.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> It works by converting images from a video camera to electrical
>>>>>>>>> impulses
>>>>>>>>> that are transmitted via the tongue to the brain of the blind
>>>>>>>>> person
>>>>>>>>> and
>>>>>>>>> turned again
>>>>>>>>> into black-and-white images that the user sees.
>>>>>>>>> It takes advantage of groundbreaking work by a UW-Madison
>>> scientist
>>>>>>>>> that showed
>>>>>>>>> the brain will reprogram itself to accept and use different
>>>>>>>>> sensory
>>>>>>>>> signals - in
>>>>>>>>> this case touch instead of sight - to replace signals that can
>>>>>>>>> no
>>>>>>>>> longer
>>>>>>>>> be received due to injury or disease.
>>>>>>>>> The device, which consists of a miniature camera mounted on a
>>>>>>>>> pair
>>> of
>>>>>>>>> sunglasses, a tongue sensor and a small control unit, was
>>>>>>>>> developed
>>>>>>>>> by
>>>>>>>>> Wicab of Middleton. It builds on another of the company's
>>>>>>>>> devices
>>>>>>>>> that
>>>>>>>>> uses the same underlying ideas to help restore users' balance.
>>>>>>>>> The company is applying to the federal Food and Drug
>>>>>>>>> Administration
>>>>>>>>> to
>>>>>>>>> get
>>>>>>>>> approval for a marketable version of the vision device that could
>>> be
>>>>>>>>> available
>>>>>>>>> by the end of the year, Wicab CEO Robert Beckman said.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> Trying circumstances.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> Few have tested BrainPort under more trying circumstances than
>>>>>>>>> Erik
>>>>>>>>> Weihenmayer,
>>>>>>>>> the only blind man to reach the summit of Mt. Everest.
>>>>>>>>> Weihenmayer,
>>>>>>>>> totally
>>>>>>>>> blind since the age of 16, has used the device to help him hike
>>>>>>>>> in
>>>>>>>>> the
>>>>>>>>> woods,
>>>>>>>>> even ascend climbing walls. But he has most appreciated it for
>>>>>>>>> letting
>>>>>>>>> him do
>>>>>>>>> such simple but rewarding tasks as playing tic-tac-toe with his
>>>>>>>>> daughter
>>>>>>>>> or reaching down to pet his dog.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> "I have a climbing friend who didn't believe me when I told him
>>> about
>>>>>>>>> this,"
>>>>>>>>> Weihenmayer said. "So he put a Pepsi can on my table in my
>>>>>>>>> kitchen
>>>>>>>>> while
>>>>>>>>> I was
>>>>>>>>> out of the room. Then he called me back in and told me to grab
>>>>>>>>> it.
>>>>>>>>> I
>>>>>>>>> reached out
>>>>>>>>> and grabbed the Pepsi can. He was blown away. He was speechless.
>>>>>>>>> He
>>>>>>>>> had
>>>>>>>>> tears in his eyes.
>>>>>>>>> "I mean, it may not seem like a real big deal to people, but to
>>>>>>>>> be
>>>>>>>>> able
>>>>>>>>> to
>>>>>>>>> see your coffee cup ... ."
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> Neither Behm nor Weihenmayer are paid consultants to Wicab,
>>> although
>>>>>>>>> the
>>>>>>>>> company pays some of their expenses.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> The late Paul Bach-y-Rita, a UW-Madison physician and specialist
>>>>>>>>> in
>>>>>>>>> rehabilitation, first came up with the ideas that inspired
>>>>>>>>> BrainPort
>>>>>>>>> in
>>>>>>>>> the 1960s. The technology was patented by UW-Madison in 1998,
>>>>>>>>> and
>>>>>>>>> commercial
>>>>>>>>> development has been under way for more than 10 years.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> New ways to work.
>>>>>>>>> Bach-y-Rita's earliest thinking about the brain's ability to
>>>>>>>>> adapt
>>>>>>>>> to
>>>>>>>>> new ways
>>>>>>>>> of receiving and processing information - its "plasticity," as it
>>> is
>>>>>>>>> known now -
>>>>>>>>> was likely sparked by the dramatic struggle of his father, Pedro,
>>> to
>>>>>>>>> recover from a devastating stroke in the mid-1960s, Beckman said.
>>>>>>>>> Neurologists in those days believed brain damage could not be
>>>>>>>>> reversed.
>>>>>>>>> But
>>>>>>>>> Bach-y-Rita's brother, George, soon put their father to work
>>>>>>>>> doing
>>>>>>>>> chores such
>>>>>>>>> as sweeping the porch of the house. Forced to accomplish more
>>>>>>>>> and
>>>>>>>>> more
>>>>>>>>> difficult
>>>>>>>>> tasks, their father eventually recovered completely and even went
>>>>>>>>> back
>>>>>>>>> to
>>>>>>>>> his job teaching.
>>>>>>>>> He died at the age of 73 of a heart attack while climbing in the
>>>>>>>>> mountains of
>>>>>>>>> Columbia.
>>>>>>>>> Remarkably, studies of Pedro's brain after his death showed
>>> massive
>>>>>>>>> damage to his brain from the stroke. Yet he recovered. Somehow,
>>>>>>>>> his
>>>>>>>>> brain had found new ways to work.
>>>>>>>>> At the UW-Madison, Bach-y-Rita focused his studies on sensory
>>>>>>>>> substitution, the idea that the brain can learn how to use other
>>>>>>>>> senses
>>>>>>>>> to replace one that has been lost or damaged. He concentrated on
>>> the
>>>>>>>>> power of touch, studying what happens in the brain when visual
>>> cues
>>>>>>>>> come from the sensitive nerves of the
>>>>>>>>> skin, such as those on the fingertips.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> Perfect organ.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> Those studies buttressed others that showed the brain can indeed
>>>>>>>>> learn
>>>>>>>>> how to use nerve impulses, delivered through touch, to create
>>>>>>>>> images.
>>>>>>>>> Exactly what happens remains somewhat of a mystery. But more
>>>>>>>>> recently,
>>>>>>>>> MRI images taken of the brain while it is working do show the
>>>>>>>>> visual
>>>>>>>>> cortex of the brain
>>>>>>>>> lighting up when receiving sensory data retrieved through touch.
>>>>>>>>> "The information does get to the area of the brain that is
>>>>>>>>> responsible
>>>>>>>>> for vision," said Kurt Kaczmarek, a UW-Madison engineer and
>>> scientist
>>>>>>>>> who was involved in the early work on BrainPort.
>>>>>>>>> The tongue is the perfect organ for the task, Beckman said,
>>>>>>>>> because
>>>>>>>>> it
>>>>>>>>> is moist
>>>>>>>>> and an excellent transmitter of electrical signals, and it has
>>>>>>>>> more
>>>>>>>>> tactile nerve endings than any other part of the body except for
>>>>>>>>> the
>>>>>>>>> lips.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> Though one can read the science over and over again, it still
>>>>>>>>> requires
>>>>>>>>> somewhat
>>>>>>>>> of a leap of faith to grasp the idea of "seeing" through the
>>> tongue.
>>>>>>>>> Simply, the
>>>>>>>>> patterns of light picked up by the camera are converted by a
>>>>>>>>> tiny
>>>>>>>>> computer into
>>>>>>>>>> electrical pulses across 100 stainless steel electrodes. Users
>>>>>>>>>> say
>>>>>>>>>> it
>>>>>>>>>> feels similar to touching a weak battery to your tongue, a
>>>>>>>>>> bubbly
>>> or
>>>>>>>>>> tingling sensation.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> The pulses are spatially encoded, meaning the person receiving
>>> those
>>>>>>>>> signals on the tongue can perceive depth, perspective, size and
>>>>>>>>> shape.
>>>>>>>>> That information is translated by the brain into images - fuzzy
>>>>>>>>> images, because of the low resolution, but images nonetheless.
>>> Those
>>>>>>>>> who have used the device explain
>>>>>>>>> that they perceive the objects in front of them, separate from
>>>>>>>>> their
>>>>>>>>> own
>>>>>>>>> bodies. A milestone of sorts. Weihenmayer recalled how when he
>>> first
>>>>>>>>> tried BrainPort, the researchers sat
>>>>>>>>> him down at a table, fitted him with the device, and then rolled
>>>>>>>>> a
>>>>>>>>> ball
>>>>>>>>> toward
>>>>>>>>> him.
>>>>>>>>> "It's a hard thing to wrap your brain around," said Weihenmayer.
>>>>>>>>> "But
>>>>>>>>> when they
>>>>>>>>> rolled a white tennis ball toward me, I could feel the ball
>>> rolling.
>>>>>>>>> First I could feel the ball starting at the back of my tongue
>>>>>>>>> and
>>>>>>>>> getting bigger and bigger, coming toward me. And then I reached
>>> out
>>>>>>>>> and
>>>>>>>>> grabbed it."
>>>>>>>>> When he ascends a rock climbing wall with BrainPort, Weihenmayer
>>>>>>>>> said,
>>>>>>>>> he
>>>>>>>>> can see the handholds, their differences in shape and the
>>>>>>>>> contrast
>>> in
>>>>>>>>> light between
>>>>>>>>> them and the background. What he sees, he explained, is largely
>>>>>>>>> shapes
>>>>>>>>> and light
>>>>>>>>> variations, sort of an out-of-focus image.
>>>>>>>>> Last month, Weihenmayer joined Beckman at the National Eye
>>>>>>>>> Institute's
>>>>>>>>> 40th
>>>>>>>>> anniversary celebration to demonstrate BrainPort and some of its
>>>>>>>>> powers.
>>>>>>>>> It
>>>>>>>>> seemed a milestone of sorts.
>>>>>>>>> But the man whose genius led to the creation of such a useful
>>>>>>>>> invention
>>>>>>>>> was not present. Bach-y-Rita died of cancer in November of 2006.
>>>>>>>>> "He would have loved to have been there," said Beckman.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>> -
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> In God We Trust,
>>>>>
>>>>> Carolyn
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