Researchers Use Tongue as Interface
From: Top Tech News - 04/24/2006
By: Barry Levine

Researchers at the Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition are
exploring a technique for using the human tongue as a computer interface for
Navy SEAL divers, Army Rangers, and other soldiers on the front lines. "Brain
Port" uses the tongue's ability to detect sonar echoes to control a PC. "Most
of the human-computer interaction so far has been on using the eyes, ears,
and hands," said Geri Gay, a professor of communications and information
sciences at Cornell University. "Everything nowadays is so ubiquitous with
mobile computing, and we need to find new, hands-free ways of interacting for
environments where your hands and eyes are busy." The research takes a cue
from nature, where animals such as pit vipers have sensitive tongues that
enable them to detect scents in the air. For humans, a red plastic strip
loaded with microelectrodes is placed on the tongue, where it can convey
information from handheld devices such as an electronic compass. The
DARPA-funded project will also attempt to create infrared tongue-vision,
enabling divers or pilots to see in the dark without the aid of night-vision
goggles. The research owes its origins to the work of University of Wisconsin
neuroscientist Paul Bach-y-Rita, who 30 years ago identified the tongue as a
superior conduit after attempting to relay camera images via electrodes that
he taped to the backs of his test subjects. The researchers hope to get the
project fast-tracked once they present a prototype to the military in May.
The technology also holds potential for helping the blind walk or even catch
balls, and a custom interface could help restore balance for people who have
suffered damage to their inner ears. 

Read the entire article at:
http://www.toptechnews.com/news/Researchers-Use-Tongue-as-Interface/story.xhtml?story_id=12100CABZSC8

Links:
Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition
http://www.ihmc.us/index.php

Tactile Interfaces for Sensory Substitution or Augmentation in Complex Dynamic Environments
http://www.ihmc.us/research/projects/SensorySubstitution/

Geri Gay
http://www.comm.cornell.edu/directory/gay2.htm

Paul Bach-y-Rita
http://www.engr.wisc.edu/bme/faculty/bachy-rita_paul.html

The Seeing Tongue
http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20010901/bob14.asp

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Device Uses a Soldier's Tongue to Process Sensory Information
From: NASA Tech Briefs Insider - 05/01/2006

More than 30 years ago, Dr. Paul Bach-y-Rita, a neuroscientist at the
University of Wisconsin, developed the Brain Port, which routed images from a
camera through electrodes taped to a person's tongue. It was designed to aid
the blind by bypassing the sensory input that was not working -- the eyes.
Today, Back-y-Rita is teaming with Anil Raj at the Florida Institute for
Human and Machine Cognition to provide soldiers with an improved tongue-based
display. 

Signals from helmet-mounted cameras and sonar equipment would be routed
through a soldier's tongue to the brain, providing the soldiers with
unobstructed 360-degree night vision, and the ability to sense sonar in their
heads underwater while maintaining normal vision. A narrow strip of plastic
connects to the tongue, where 144 microelectrodes transmit information
through the tongue's nerve fibers to the brain. 

Other applications include underwater crime scene investigators and Navy
divers, who would be able to identify search patterns and signal to each
other without the need to carry bulky sonar equipment, keeping their hands
and their eyes free. 

Read the entire article at:
http://www.ihmc.us/research/projects/SensorySubstitution/