What- What is Sensory Substitution?
“Sensory substitution means replacement of one sensory input (vision, hearing, touch, taste or smell) by another, while preserving some of the key functions of the original sense. “ Peter B.L. Meijer-www.seeingwithsound.com
Due to the astonishing plasticity of the brain, Sensory Substitution Devices can help a blind person to regain some sense of sight through touch or hearing or help a deaf person to regain some sense of hearing via vision or touch.
If the brain is deprived of its main form of input it will seek out other ways of gaining this information about its environment. Sensory Substitution Devices helps the brain to use other senses to gain this information.
Who- Who will it benefit?
Anyone who has the loss of one sense can regain at least some of the lost sensation through SS technology. All sensory nerves are essentially the same, the way we feel these sensations simply depends on the part of the brain these nerves are connected to.
At the moment, the focus of SS devices is on helping the blind to regain some sense of vision. However, experiments are also being done with tactile electrodes placed on the arms of deaf people to help them sense the vibrations caused by noises.
Why- Why would anyone use this technology?
The main advantage of Sensory Substitution technology, over other technologies aimed at helping the blind to regain some sense of sight, is that it is non- invasive. This is wearable technology.
Peter Meijer even allows people to download his incredible vOICe software for FREE (from his website-www.seeingwithsound.com) for people to use on their PC’s, and also a Java version, which can be downloaded to a mobile phone and used with the phone’s camera.
To increase the quality of the Sensory Substitution experience I have investigated and designed a concept to combine this technology with other useful technologies which can help the blind to navigate and better experience their environment. Please see the Demo area of the website to view this concept.
How- How does it work?
The vOICe Learning Edition is software developed by Peter B.L. Meijer to turn images into sounds. It can work with a webcam or the camera on a mobile phone. It allows users to experience the world around them through sound including web graphics and images you may have stored on your PC.
Please watch the video below to see this technology in action.
Paul Bach-y-Rita began to work on Sensory Substitution devices in the 1960’s and since then has fine-tuned his device, which can now break a video into several thousand pixels.
The Brainport device uses this technology and turns camera pixels into tiny electronic pulses which are then felt on the tongue and converted by the brain into images.
Please see the video below to see this technology in action.