Tasting the Light: Device Lets the Blind "See" with Their Tongues
From: Scientific American - 08/13/2009
By: Mandy Kendrick

A pair of sunglasses wired to an electric "lollipop" helps the visually
impaired regain optical sensations via a different pathway 

Neuroscientist Paul Bach-y-Rita hypothesized in the 1960s that "we see with
our brains not our eyes." Now, a new device trades on that thinking and aims
to partially restore the experience of vision for the blind and visually
impaired by relying on the nerves on the tongue's surface to send light
signals to the brain. 

Read the entire article at:
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=device-lets-blind-see-with-tongues

Links:
Paul Bach-y-Rita
http://www.salus.edu/nclvi/honoring/bach_y_rita.htm

Wicab, Inc.
http://vision.wicab.com/index.php

University of Pittsburgh Medical Center's UPMC Eye Center
http://www.upmc.com/Services/ophthalmology/Pages/default.aspx

BrainPort Vision Technology
http://vision.wicab.com/technology/

BrainPort lets you see with your tongue, might actually make it to market
http://www.engadget.com/tag/Brainport/