Help forecast the future of science and technology with 1787 members of the international community.
Join Signtific
Join Signtific
Signals for sensory
-
Genetically reprogramming our senses
Researchers recently genetically modified mice to see many more colors, opening up the spectrum of light waves that the animals can distinguish between. Eventually, similar techniques might be used to alter other senses. The scientists from the Howard Hughed Medical Institute and University of California at Santa Barbara introduced a gene that resulted in the mice having a third type of photoreceptor cell in the retina where they usually have just two. With three receptors, the animals enjoyed trichromacy, the kind of color vision that we humans have. From HHMI News: Researchers recently genetically modified mice to see many more colors, opening up the spectrum of light waves that the animals can distinguish between. Eventually, similar techniques might be used to alter other senses. …
Tags: programmableeverything sensory -
Programmable synaesthesia: seeing with your ears
The vOICe is a a hardware/software system that translates images from a head-mounted camera into sound. Developed by research scientist Peter Meijer in the nEtherlands, the vOICe creates the soundscapes from the video data: brightness equates to volume, pitch tells you what's higher or lower in your field of "vision," and things on the left are heard in your left ear, etc. From the New York Times: The vOICe is a a hardware/software system that translates images from a head-mounted camera into sound. …
Tags: programmable everything sensory -
Remapping the brain’s circuitry
University of Oregon neuroscientist Scott Frey uses MRI to map the brain's circuity underlying cognitive, sensory, and motor abilities. And understand how the brain can be remapped. By doing so, he hopes to help people who have suffered from traumatic brain injuries or lost limbs. According to Frey's research, the same regions of the brain light up when, say, you pick up a fork or imagine you're piking up a fork. University of Oregon neuroscientist Scott Frey uses MRI to map the brain's circuity underlying cognitive, sensory, and motor abilities. And study how the brain can be remapped. …
Tags: programmableeverything sensory -
Neurofeedback for reprogramming your brain
In the 1960s, UC San Francisco psychologist Joe Kamiya used an EEG machine to "close the loop" between people and the electrical activity in their heads. The idea was called biofeedback -- by having real-time data about your brain state, you could learn to control your brain's current. The aim is to spend more time in an alpha state, a brainwave pattern with a frequency of 8-13 Hz that's commonly associated with relaxation and meditation. Increased alpha wave activity has been also been shown to help alleviate ADHD and depression, and boost creativity and alertness. Neurofeedback was born during the psychedelic 1960s out of earlier experiments to detect the current in our heads. The core technology is the electroencephalograph (EEG), a device used to record electrical activity in the brain by sticking electrodes to the scalp. The field began in 1908 when Hans Berger wired his son up to a galvonometer and recorded his brain waves. Berger named the signals Alpha waves because they were the first ones discovered. …
Tags: sensory programmableeverything -
Hacking sleep
Polyphasic sleep refers to sleeping multiple times for short periods during a 24-hour day. Some dedicated "mind hackers" have attemtped to adopt polyphasic schedules to dramatically extend the time they're awake during the day. By entering REM sleep very quickly and staying in it until you wake up, some believe that you can reprogram your body to sleep just a couple hours total each day and still function well. Polyphasic sleep refers to sleeping multiple times for short periods during a 24-hour day. Some dedicated "mind hackers" have attemtped to adopt polyphasic schedules to dramatically extend the time they're awake during the day. …
Tags: sensory programmableeverything -
Berry that reprograms your taste buds
Synsepalum dulcificum, aka "Miracle Fuit," is a West African berry that temporarily reprograms your taste buds. It makes anything sour or bitter taste perfectly sweet. For example, beer apparently tastes like chocolate and cheese resembles sugary frosting. The berries can be ordered online or sampled at underground "Flavor Tripping" parties. From the New York Times: Synsepalum dulcificum is a West African berry that temporarily reprograms your taste buds. …
Tags: programmableeverything sensory -
Humans using echolocation to see
Daniel Kish is a blind psychologist who uses echolocation to "see," and teachers others how to do it. The technique involves making loud clicking noises with your tongue. Then, you program your brain to unconsciously interpret the echo that comes back. Some individuals can even identify the material of a remote object based on how soft, dense, or sharp the echo is. Kish wrote about his experience teaching echolocation: Daniel Kish is a blind psychologist who uses echolocation to "see," and teachers others how to do it. …
Tags: sensory programmableeverything -
Superhuman vision
Advances in genetic medicine and the study of animal vision could someday lead to genetic upgrades to human vision. For example, University of Washington professors Jay and Maureeen Neitz explore the kind of tetrachromatic vision possessed by birds and some fish, for example. Tetrachromats have four types of light receptors (cones) in the retina compared to humans who almost always have three. As a result, tetrachromats can distinguish between colors that we can't and also see wavelengths beyond a typical human's eyesight. Advances in genetics and the study of animal vision could someday lead to genetic upgrades to human vision. …
Tags: transgenics, sensory programmableeverything -
Michael Chorost, amplified hearing and the world wide mind
Michael Chorost is a journalist and cyborg. His book, Rebuilt: How Becoming Part Computer Made Me More Human, documents his experience with a cochlear implant brought him "back to the hearing world" after being hard of hearing or completely deaf his entire life. Chorost's cyborgization raised many deep questions about the relationship between the body and technology, he says, including: When the senses become programmable, can we trust what they tell us about the world? Michael Chorost is a journalist and cyborg whose work and life explores questions about what it means to be human and "When the senses become programmable, can we trust what they tell us about the world?" …
Tags: sensory programmableeverything mind -
Stelarc's prosthetic senses as art
Australian performance artist Stelarc has spent more than three decades pushing our thinking of how technology can augment the human body and sensory system. In "Ping Body," he outfitted his body with electric transducers wired to software that measured Internet traffic. The ebbs and flow of traffic "zapped" his limbs into spasmodic movements, providing him with a physical "sense" of a virtual phenomena. Most recently, Stelarc worked with bioengineers to grow an "extra ear" out of living tissue that has the physical appearance of a real ear. Australian performance artist Stelarc has spent more than three decades pushing our thinking of how technology can augment the human body and sensory system. …
Tags: programmableeverything sensory -
Implant for "magnetic vision"
Todd Huffman had a small magnet implanted in his left ring finger. His aim was to achieve what he calls "somatosensory extension," augmenting his senses to perceive magnetic fields. here is what he wrote a week after the implantation: Todd Huffman had a small magnet implanted in his left ring finger. His aim was to achieve what he calls "somatosensory extension," augmenting his senses to perceive magnetic fields. …
Tags: programmableeverything sensory -
Substitution of the senses
The late Paul Bach-y-Rita could be considered the father of all technology used to reprogram the human senses. In 1963, Bach-y-Rita developed a "Tactile to Visual Sensory Substitution" device. It converted images from a camera to tactile sensations that a blind person could feel on his or her black. Bach-y-Rita's research was all based on the notion of "sensory substitution." The brain, he argued, was not hardwired and that a working sense, say touch, could be used to replace a failing one, eg. vision. Paul Bach-y-Rita could be considered the father of all technology used to reprogram the human senses. …
Tags: programmableeverything sensory -
Human compass technology
The FeelSpace system from the University of Osnabruck is an experimental technology to provide humans with an augmented sense of orientation. The device is a belt outfitted with tiny vibrators controlled by an electronic compass. The person wearing the belt "feels" the direction he or she is going relative to the magnetic field of the Earth. The FeelSpace system from the University of Osnabruck is an experimental technology to provide humans with an augmented sense of orientation. …
Tags: sensory programmableeverything -
Video display for the tongue
The BrainPort is a visual prosthetic for the blind that converts images from a video camera into tactile sensations on the tongue. It was first developed at the University of Wisconsin in a research group led by the late Paul Bach-y-Rita, the "father" of approaches to substitute one sense for another. The technology has been spun out for commercialization but is not yet FDA approved. During trials, blind test subjects had their brains scanned while using the device. Interestingly, even though the device provides tactile sensation, visual regions of the brain were activated. The BrainPort is a visual prosthetic for the blind that converts images from a video camera into tactile sensations on the tongue. …
Tags: sensory programmableeverything -
Tactile navigation system
The Spatial Orientation Enhancement System is a wearable system to augment human spatial orientation. Designed for fighter pilots, the suit and helmet outfitted with tiny vibrators provides tactile feedbak around the body that provide information about a plane's orientation and movement. From the University of Iowa project page: The Spatial Orientation Enhancement System is like a compass attachment for the human body. …
Tags: Human Augmentation, sensory programmableeverything -
Rerouting amputees' sense of touch from fingers to chest
One of the biggest drawbacks of today's prosthetic limbs is that they don't provide the sensation of touching something. Scientists have made progress restoring the sense of touch for amputees by rerouting hand nerves to the chest after amputation. Now, when physical pressure, heat, or cold is applied to those nerves, the patients reported feeling the sensations in their nonexistent hands. From AFP: One of the biggest drawbacks of today's prosthetic limbs is that they don't provide the sensation of touching something. Scientists have made progress restoring the sense of touch for amputees by rerouting hand nerves to the chest after amputation. Now, when physical pressure, heat, or cold is applied to those nerves, the patients reported feeling the sensations in their nonexistent hands. …
Tags: programmableeverything sensory -
See with your skin?
A researcher at Tel Aviv University suggests that humans might be able to "see" with their skin. Engineering professor Leonid Yaroslavsky hopes that through biomimicry, new kinds of imaging technology might be developed that obviates traditional optics. Yaroslavsky presents his theories on the subject in a chapter (PDF) of a new book titled "Advances in Information Optics and Photonics." From an American Friends of Tel Aviv University press release: A researcher at Tel Aviv University suggests that humans might be able to "see" with their skin. Engineering professor Leonid Yaroslavsky hopes that through biomimicry, new kinds of imaging technology might be developed that obviates traditional optics. …
Tags: sensory programmableeverything -
Using virtual reality to "swap bodies"
In a strange neuroscience experiment, researchers determined that an individual wearing virtual reality goggles showing video streaming from another person's body can have the sensation that the other body is his or her own. …
Tags: sensory programmableeverything mind -
Clothing as camera
MIT researchers developed light-detecting fibers that could eventually be woven into a "fabric camera." Instead of counting on a single lens, the new system would use a web of the fibers as a distributed imaging surface. Imagine a shirt where the entire back is a "camera." From MIT News: MIT researchers developed light-detecting fibers that could eventually be woven into a "fabric camera." Instead of counting on a single lens, the new system would use a web of the fibers as a distributed imaging surface. Imagine a shirt where the entire back is a "camera." …
Tags: sensory programmableeverything
