Discover The Device That Allows The Blind See With Their Tongue

Now here’s something that should be celebrated: there’s an increasing number of sensory-substitution devices being developed that use the brain in the most remarkable way. These devices take in visual information from the environment and translate it into forms of physical touch or sound in order to be interpreted by the user as vision.

BrainPort Vision Pro translates digital information from a wearable video camera into gentle electrical stimulation patterns on the surface of the tongue. Users feel moving bubble-like patterns on their tongue which they learn to interpret as the shape, size, location, and motion of objects in their environment. Some users have described it as being able to “see with your tongue”.

The BrainPort Vision Pro vision aid is a headset that contains a small video camera, user controls, a rechargeable battery, and the tongue array. The headset is fully adjustable and available in 3 different sizes to accommodate most users.

The camera works in a variety of lighting conditions and has an adjustable field of view. The tongue array contains 394 electrodes and is connected to the headset via a flexible cable so it can’t be dropped and lost. When in use, white pixels from the camera are felt on the tongue as strong stimulation, black pixels as no stimulation, and gray levels as medium levels of stimulation.

The BrainPort Vision Pro is being used by individuals with no usable vision, both congenitally blind and with acquired blindness. Good candidates for using the BrainPort Vision Pro are people that
have completed conventional blind rehabilitation training and are comfortable using conventional assistive tools.  A non-surgical solution, BrainPort Vision Pro does not affect the eyes. This is important in the event future research offers better alternatives for people who are totally blind.

Supervised training is necessary prior to using the BrainPort Vision Pro device independently. Training is offered through certified, independent training facilities. A typical training course is 10 hours of one-on-one training, over a three-day period, including customized content for the individual user. 

This Is an amazing tech that can change the way a blind man lives. What are your thoughts?

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