brainport

Craig Lundberg, a 24-year-old English soldier who was blinded by a grenade in Iraq, can now can read words, identify shapes, and walk unaided (although he’s kept his awesome dog) using a BrainPort device.

brainport2The Ministry of Defence (MoD) selected him to trial the pioneering device which is comprised of a tiny video camera attached to a pair of sunglasses linked to a plastic “lolly pop” which the user places on their tongue to read the electrical pulses. [...]
“You get lines and shapes of things, it sees in black and white so you get a two dimensional image on your tongue, it’s a bit like a pins and needles sensation,” he said.  “It’s only a prototype, but the potential to change my life is massive, it’s got a lot of potential to advance things for blind people.  One of the things it has enabled me to do is pick up objects straight away, I can reach out and pick them up when before I would be fumbling around to feel for them.” [BBC via Arbroath]

The Ministry of Defence estimates the cost of the device, plus training, to be around £18,000 ($27,400 US).  They’re also trying to redesign it so it can be fixed to the roof of the mouth to allow a person to speak while using it.  Great, so then even blind people could tell me how terrible I look.  Anyway, can I get one of these to point at some text so I can read while watching TV?  I want to watch “Law and Order: SVU” while reading “Law and Order: SVU” fan fiction.  Oh Detective Stabler, you’re so hot-blooded.