Tech | March 15, 2010 | 27 comments

Blinded soldier taught to see with his tongue

source: http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/UK-News/British-Soldier-Blinded-In-Iraq-Is-Taught-To-See-Wi...

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Thankfully British soldier Craig Lundberg, 24, who was blinded in Iraq three years ago, doesn't have to lick objects and faces to have an idea of where he should be looking. Thanks to some innovative, ground-breaking technology, Lundberg can 'see', albeit sketchily, via some glasses with a video-camera built in and a clever, electrode-stimulating object that sits on his tongue.

Sky News explain how the kit works:

"The device consists of a high-tech 'lollipop' that rests on Craig's tongue. It converts images from a video camera, that he wears on a pair of glasses, into signals that stimulate electrodes on the lollipop.

The £10,000 device works on the principle of sensory substitution. The brain recognises that the signals stimulating the tongue have nothing to do with taste, and re-routes them to the visual centre of the brain for processing."

There's also a video at the link below, featuring Lundberg and his explanation of how he finds using the device.


http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/UK-News/British-Soldier-Blinded-In-Iraq-Is-Taug...
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27 comments // Blinded soldier taught to see with his tongue

  • overxertionoftheMIND
  • MotherForTruth
  • cutee_leslie
  • dalistuff
  • cheesyMerKaBa
    • 0
      cheesyMerKaBa  

    • children have been doing this for years now all over the world!! (without the american school system kids really can do anything!!) - the only difference is these kids don't use any kind of electronic device!! they can also read w/ the tip of thier nose, any finger tip, feet, anything!!! its time to realize technology isn't the way!! technology is here to teach us what we can do without it!!

    • 1 year ago
  • JonRaymond
  • bking74
    • 0
      bking74  
    • JonRaymond:

      Your an ignorant, vile, jealous, weak little man who hates the world because it has rejected you. Be a decent human being and show some compassion, empathy or respect for this young man.

    • 1 year ago
  • JonRaymond
    • 0
      JonRaymond  
    • bking74:

      What's your problem? I said it was fantastic. If only everyone could experience this miracle of war. You are lucky to be one of the few and proud who can live in it's glory. Praise God, oil, money, and all that shit.

      And no worries all around. We have all the prosthetics and tongue driven eyesight devices you'll ever need, as long as you have the bucks to pay for it dude. That's what it's about, the bucks. Lots and lots of bucks.

      Chill out dude. Go watch Hurt Locker and get your rocks off.

    • 1 year ago
  • bking74
  • Follow_me
  • jdibari
    • +1
      jdibari  

    • If our species put more effort into creating technologies like this and less effort into making bombs we'd really have something

    • 1 year ago
  • JonRaymond
    • 0
      JonRaymond  
    • jdibari:

      But we'd never even have this without war you see. We need the war. War begets these spinoff devices that make life bearable for people who have to live with..... war.

      Don't you see how necessary war is? Get with the program.

    • 1 year ago
  • NothingIsAbsoluteTruth
  • JonRaymond
  • 402Chicago
  • NuclearLullaby
    • 0
      NuclearLullaby  

    • So what this is saying is we turned a human into a snake??? Great technology really!!! It's shocking what can actually be done these days with technology! It's freaky at times just what can be done,but very cool at the same time! Of course I really am not too sure if this would work better then some other devices I've seen for the blind! At the price this currently goes for,it's not exactly something that every blind person is likely to have right away,but as technology develops,the blind will have a few ways to see, it seems!

    • 1 year ago
  • Darevalo
  • JimboTheHippo
  • Darevalo
  • rufescens
    • 0
      rufescens  

    • "The brain recognises that the signals stimulating the tongue have nothing to do with taste, and re-routes them to the visual centre of the brain for processing." How did they figure this out? Is the visual center of the brain a sort of default?

    • 1 year ago
  • Nahom_Abegaze
  • shanklinmike
    • 0
      shanklinmike  

    • Thank the industrial revolution for all our technology! Patriots fought and died for this Freedom away from a tyrannical monarchy! Defend freedom if you want technology! I am glad this technology was discovered! Technology helps more than it hurts! Do not fear automation, do not fear trade, do not fear freedom, reject the opposite....

    • 1 year ago
  • Kyle_Crenshaw
  • JonRaymond
  • mr_tibbles
  • Varex_Sythe
    • 0
      Varex_Sythe  

    • This is brilliant. I thought that for this to work chips had to be "installed" onto the visual cortex of the human brain. Nice to see that this can work without the surgery.

    • 1 year ago
  • DeliaTheArtist
    • +1
      DeliaTheArtist  

    • That is awesome! Added to the Science group! From the article:

      "The brain is able to interpret the image, giving Craig rudimentary vision.

      He described the device as "absolutely fantastic".

      "Whatever the camera is looking at, I can feel the image on my tongue," he said.

      The system has allowed him to make out the top letters on an optician's eye test.

      He said: "I could feel with my tongue that the first letter was an A, and then I moved on to the next one. It was amazing.

      "Then I walked down a corridor and I could make out the doorways, the walls and people coming towards me."

      Too freakin cool!

    • 1 year ago
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