People behind the curtain

Every morning we wake up, wash ourselves, eat and drink coffee and if the weather allows us, we enjoy the sunshine. People go to work, by cars, buses or on foot. On weekends they explore new places, visit museums and go to cinema. Usually people live a happy life. But behind the big mass are groups of individuals who, by a fate of choice, are not so lucky. People who have some sort of disability. Modern technology has come to help and given them some new devices to work with and at least try to enjoy the life.

                One of the possible devices is Brainport.  It was initially developed as an aid to people’s sense of balance, particularly of stroke victims. Later on the technology was  developed for use as a visual aid. Brainport has demonstrated its ability to allow a blind person to see his surroundings in polygonal and pixel form. In this scenario, a camera picks up the image of the surrounding, the information is processed by a chip which converts it into impulses which are sent through an electrode array, via the tongue, to person’s brain. The human brain is able to interpret these impulses as visual signals and they are then redirected to visual cortex, allowing the person to „see“. This is similar in part to how a cochlear implant works, in that it transmits electrical stimuli to a receiving device in the body.

                It is not a perfect device, but a backbone has been placed. I believe that in the nearest 20 – 30 years we will be able to send direct signals to brain and visualize our surroundings.