Sensory Substitution

Sensory Substitution
Chris Bartlo
IT 103 A01
5/27/09


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Introduction
One exciting new development in information technology is the capability to connect to inactive senses (such as the visual portion of the brain in a blind person) by feeding sensory information into a sense that is working normally. The most popular type of research in this area appears to be approximating sight by inputting visual information into a different sense. For example, one team of researchers has developed a system for sending visual information to the brain through electrode stimulation of the tongue, and another team experimented with teaching cats to use echolocation. ( Rauschecker, 1995)

Background
Some studies have also demonstrated a compensation that tends to occur in brains deprived of visual information, in which they increase their ability to adapt the other senses. Generally, blind human subjects outperformed non-blind subjects in tests of the tongue device (Ptito, 2005).

Potential Benefits
The most obvious benefit to this technology would be supplementing the senses of people who have lost or were born without one of those considered most important for navigating the modern world (particularly sight and hearing). However, as demonstrated by the directional belt in the Wired article, sensory substitution could also be used for augmenting new forms of perception, such as magnetism, or detection of infrared and ultraviolet light.

Further Required Research
More research is required in the directions of augmenting new senses, in my opinion.

Conclusion
Sensory substitution is an important new development and form of innovation in modern information technology.


Works Cited

Compensatory plasticity and sensory substitution in the cerebral cortex
Trends in Neurosciences, Volume 18, Issue 1, January 1995, Pages 36-43
Josef P. Rauschecker

Testing adaptation of brains to senses, primarily in cats.


Hervé Segond, Déborah Weiss, Eliana Sampaio. (2007). A Proposed Tactile Vision-substitution System for Infants Who Are Blind Tested on Sighted Infants. Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness, 101(1), 32-43. Retrieved May 22, 2009, from Education Module database. (Document ID: 1218541651).

Tactile Substitution for Vision with Human Infants


Maurice Ptito, Solvej M. Moesgaard, Albert Gjedde, Ron Kupers. (2005). Cross-modal plasticity revealed by electrotactile stimulation of the tongue in the congenitally blind. Brain, 128(3), 606-14. Retrieved May 22, 2009, from ProQuest Nursing & Allied Health Source database. (Document ID: 909543741).

Tongue Stimulation to Substitute Visual Input in Human Subjects


Bains, Sunny (2007, March 1). Mixed feelings. Wired, 15.04,

Introduction to topic in layman's terms. Also introduces directional belt.


König, P (2008). Peter König Research. Retrieved May 26, 2009, from Peter König Homepage Web site: http://www.ini.uzh.ch/~peterk/index.html

Researcher and inventor of “FeelSpace” directional belt.