The Brain Port, neural tongue interface of the future

Seems like every distant vision of the future has man jacking into his gear via some crazy head gear or a plug on the back of the neck or head. We just take it for granted that yeah, that's the fastest way to get to the brain: through the stem or straight into the cortex. Well, think again, because the Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition's 30-year neural interface project is yielding fruit -- the kind you can taste. Their Brain Port machine / sensory interface uses 144 microelectrodes to transmit information through sensitive nerve fibers in your lingua, enabling devices to supplement your own sensory perception. The system, which is getting shown off to Navy and Marine Corps divers next month will supposedly have sonar integration for sub-aqueous orientation, but has already apparently given some landlubber blind people the ability to catch balls, "notice" others walking in front of them, and find doors. With IR, radar, sonar, and other forms of detection, the researchers believe this device will obsolete night vision -- even our own eyes -- sooner than later.

[Quentin @ May 25th 2008 4:16PM]

if you all think about it this could be used kinda like The Matrix....what if your sleeping....would you see the digital images??? It would be effin cool!!!! if anyone reads this and would like to talk more about my theory e-mail me at xxtwelvegaugexx at yahoo.com or reply here....later!!!

[Bjorn Keizers @ Apr 25th 2006 10:21AM]

I want it so bad, I can almost taste it :D

This sounds aaaaawesome.

[strider_mt2k @ Apr 25th 2006 10:27AM]

Not every image:
http://www.saltypig.com/blog/emilio.jpg
(Doctor Emilio Lizardo from "Buckaroo Bansai")

[Ed @ Apr 25th 2006 10:36AM]

"Red light, green light..."

"Just don't chew it."

[Timerider @ Apr 25th 2006 10:55AM]

Cool.

To have sonic perseption and radar? I wonder what that would "feel" like.

[Nick @ Apr 25th 2006 11:01AM]

Great! I was hesitant to commit to a cybernetic implant due to the rapid pace of technological improvement. Since we can interface directly through the skin, I do not have to go under the knife every 18 months to keep up with moores law.
;)

[daschupa @ Apr 25th 2006 11:12AM]

What, no ipod compatability? Pffft.

This is pretty cool. The world's getting more Gibson-ized every moment.

[gomora @ Apr 25th 2006 11:14AM]

hell yeah "serial expirements lain" "ghost in a shell" style and i thought i would be alive for the cyberpunk era

[paul @ Apr 25th 2006 12:08PM]

That's interesting. I recently posted on a technology (tho it's implanted onto the surface of the brain) that is in clinical trials to help the disabled control things with their mind. crazy stuff.

http://www.gopaultech.com/?p=162

[darko @ Apr 25th 2006 12:25PM]

The datacapacity of our optic nerve is vastely more then any input in that way.

Not just by a bit, but by a huge order of magatude.
Theres no way that system could ever even approach the human eye. (even in black and white).

I taste Hyperbole...

[eyeballkid @ Apr 25th 2006 8:50PM]

Most definitely hyperbole - the resolution of this device is 144 microelectrodes per visual field. The size of the visual field must be defined by the mapping from the input device ( camera ) to the array of pins.

So, your "visual" resolution is

(144 pins / ( degrees of "visual" field )


I would imagine that the degrees of visual field is a parameter that can be tweaked.

So, you could have high resolution image that centers on just a few degrees of your visual field, or a low resolution image that covers a wider range of your visual field. 360 degree vision? Sure, but you would have just under 2 pins per "visual" degree, assuming you have no Y axis ( but that's prolly uninterpretable by the user, given that there is a Y axis on the physical pin array).

I would imagine that variable resolution could be acheived with a zoom slider on the input device. The question is, how well can the humans adapt to this kind of potentially confusing variable input?

This brings us to the real bottleneck in the situation: human adaptability. Luckily, the cortical areas responsible for haptic and visual sensation have adapted to receive similar types of information. For instance, we can both SEE and FEEL within the spatial environment, which can mathematically be represnted using X,Y,Z coordinates. These can be mapped onto pins pretty easily. But, surely there are differences in how the haptic and visual systems have adapted their topological organization to best represent the input that they receive from the environment. It's these differences that are going to make it impossible to have a 1:1 translation between the visual input and the haptic receptors.

[Eric @ Apr 26th 2006 1:18AM]

ugh...what eyeballkid said. ._o?

[lupinstel @ Apr 26th 2006 2:04PM]

Now I don't have to pee on the toilet seat when I use the bathroom in the dark!!

[Tom @ Jun 13th 2006 9:37PM]

You know you guys have written about this twice, right?

http://www.engadget.com/2004/11/23/brainport-sensory-substitution-device-rights-wobblers-and/

[cactus @ Jul 19th 2006 11:29PM]

Life often mimics SciFi.

http://www.badmovies.org/movies/buckaroo/buckaroo4.jpg

[pavantej @ Aug 30th 2006 5:22AM]

brain port device is very nice

[Mischa @ Sep 12th 2006 11:17AM]

call me old fashioned, but this crosses the cyborg-ish line- that thing looks like it wants to hurt me.

[Leon @ Feb 20th 2007 8:01PM]

gives a whole new meaning to the phrase "computer virus"...