Device Gives Blind "Sight"
From: Medical Device and Diagnostic Industry - 07/2015 - page 14

Blind patients in the US last month gained access to a new technology
intended to help them have a bottom sense of their surroundings. But the
device isn’t an eye or brain implant that will help them see in the
traditional sense instead the BrainPort V100 by Wisconsin-based Wicab Inc.
uses a device that sends vibrations to patients' tongues. FDA approved the
device on June 18th, noting in a press release that the technology, “when
used along with other assistive devices, like a cane or guide dog, can heip
orient peopte who are blind by helping them process visual images with their
tongues.” The two-part system consists of glasses with a video camera and a
flat device that sits against the patient's tongue. The oral device receives
electrical signals from the video camera and transmits these “images” to the
patient's tongue via vibrations and tingling.

Links:
BrainPort
http://www.wicab.com/en_us

BrainPort V100
http://www.wicab.com/en_us/v100.html

FDA allows marketing of new device to help the blind process visual signals
  via their tongues
http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/ucm451779.htm

Related:
Helius Medical Technologies
http://www.heliusmedical.com

PoNS
http://www.heliusmedical.com/divisions/neurohabilitation/pons-device

The Blind Climber Who "Sees" with His Tongue
http://discovermagazine.com/2008/jul/23-the-blind-climber-who-sees-through-his-tongue