[nabs-l] Device Helps Blind See with Tongue

[Patrick Molloy]

Justin,
If this is what I think it is, then I've heard about it before. I
think the idea is to give blind people more information along with
what we already get on our own. I think it's interesting research too,
but I don't think the people who are behind it are uneducated or
wrong. At least they're stepping up and trying something, as opposed
to other people who would just sit back. Furthermore, I'm often
curious about what else is out there that I might not be picking up
on. This device, if it does all that this article claims, would
probably help with subtle details that we might not ordinarily notice.
In the future, it's possible that this device would help blind people
to read signs that either were far away or didn't have Braille. As of
now, I can guarantee that there are still bugs to work out, but I
think this is really interesting and I hope it continues to improve
over time. I look at this thing as similar to a talking GPS unit for
the blind. True, we CAN get by just fine without one, but WITH one,
you get more information than without.
Patrick

On 5/22/12, Justin Salisbury <PRESIDENT at alumni.ecu.edu> wrote:
> Philosophy Discussion Time
>
> I just caught this story on the local news, and I want to hear people's
> opinions of it.  There are many different versions of this news story, but
> here's a link to a page with a video and text article:
>
> http://wearecentralpa.com/fulltext-healthcast?nxd_id=369932
>
> Feel free to find other versions of this story using a simple search
> engine.
>
> When I heard that Mark couldn't wait for the day that he could navigate his
> own home independently with a device, I thought to myself "hey, I already
> have one of those devices.  It's called a cane!"
>
> In my reading on the story, I get the impression that researchers think that
> this device is important because we blind people are oblivious to our
> surroundings and need some way to get information about them.  I think this
> is cool research for the sake of research, but I see absolutely no practical
> need for the device.  With the proper skills and training, we can
> independently navigate our own surroundings.  I further wonder if maybe
> these uneducated or incorrectly educated researchers simply don't know about
> the techniques we blind people can use to independently navigate our
> surroundings or if they view them as inferior and think we should be trying
> to operate as closely to sighted people as we can.
>
> What does everyone on the list think?
>
> Justin Salisbury
> President
> North Carolina Association of Blind Students
>
>
> Justin M. Salisbury
> Class of 2012
> B.A. in Mathematics
> East Carolina University
> president at alumni.ecu.edu
>
> “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change
> the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”    —MARGARET MEAD
>
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