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Tactile Sensory Substitution for Blindness
Multiple Paper Presentation
Paul Bach-y-Rita
Departments of Orthopedics and Rehabilitation Medicine and B
Kathi Kamm
Department of Occupational Therapy, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Abstract ID Number: 3
Abstract
The brain is perfectly capable of substituting one sense for
>another. We see with our brain, not our eyes, as we stated in 1972,
>since in normal vision the image does not get beyond the retina,
>where it is turned into pulses along the optic nerve. This was
>well-demonstrated in our 1969 NATURE paper. Blind subjects can
>navigate in rooms and halls and perform complex hand-"eye"
>coordination tasks (whether it is "vision" or vision has been the
>subject of several philosophic studies; some philosophers such as
>Morgan consider it to be real vision) such as catching a ball
>rolling across a table. But the delay in acceptance and practical
>use was in part related to the absence of a really practical
>human-machine interface (HMI), and the wait for smaller, inexpensive
>components. The development of an excellent tongue HMI, and
>miniature components (our latest version uses a goggle-mounted tiny
>cell-phone camera) has led to a practical device. The late brain
>plasticity mechanisms have been evaluated and include unmasking of
>previously existing pathways (both animal and human studies) and
>volume transmission, among others.
To be Presented at the Following Symposium:
Can the Blind See?
Other papers in this Symposium:
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