The tongue is a pretty incredible organ, with its location inside the mouth and the way it works. It is known that the tongue, which gives us access to the wonderful world of taste, is more sensitive to touch than the fingertip. Without language, we wouldn’t be able to speak, sing, breathe efficiently, or enjoy delicious food and drink.
A recent study has revealed how to make the most of this strange organ. According to this research, language can help people with visual impairments navigate and even exercise.
A technology used as an aid for the visually impaired was used in the study.
Imagine holding your hand to a camera and simultaneously feeling a small hand appear on the tip of your tongue. In this case, you may feel as if someone is drawing pictures by popping candy on your tongue. The technology called BrainPort, which you see in the photograph, which was first developed in 1998, does exactly that. In other words, it transforms movements on the surface of the tongue into electrical stimulation patterns with a camera.
This small lollipop-shaped device called the ‘language screen’ consists of 400 small electrodes, each electrode corresponding to a pixel from a camera’s video feed. It also creates a low-resolution tactile display in the language that matches the output from the camera. In 2015, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved this technology for use as an aid for the visually impaired. The research team also used BrainPort to test how human attention works on the surface of language and see if differences in perception are the cause.
Findings are used to help visually impaired rock climbers climb
Language responds to given information in the same way as hands or vision. But although language is incredibly sensitive, attentional processes are somewhat limited compared to the other senses. So stimulating the tongue is pretty easy, which causes a sensory overload.
Finding that attentional processes in language can also be affected by sound, the research team thinks that if paired with an auditory interface, BrainPort can help direct attention and reduce sensory overload. However, using BrainPort alone can be too stimulating to provide reliable information. The team explained that they used these findings to develop a device that would help visually impaired rock climbers to climb comfortably.
In addition, the team explained that they are also exploring the possibility of using a voice app that can give clues as to where the user can take their next step and hold on, and they use the language feedback to find the exact place to hold on.
With a few tweaks, this technology could become a more reliable tool to help deaf or visually impaired people navigate. It can even help people with paraplegia who can’t use their hands, find direction, or communicate more efficiently.
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