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What do you all think of this?<br>
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-Kate<br>
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<a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://inhabitat.com/israeli-scientists-develop-star-trek-visor-that-enables-the-blind-to-see/#more-352875"
target="_blank">http://inhabitat.com/israeli-scientists-develop-star-trek-visor-that-enables-the-blind-to-see/#more-352875</a>
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<h1>Israeli Scientists Develop “Star Trek” VISOR that Enables the Blind
to See</h1>
<div>by <a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://inhabitat.com/author/timon/" title="Posts by Timon Singh"
style="color: rgb(150, 164, 17); text-decoration: none;"
target="_blank">Timon Singh</a>, 02/13/12</div>
<div><span>filed under:</span> <a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://inhabitat.com/green-technology/" alt=""
style="color: rgb(150, 164, 17); text-decoration: none;"
target="_blank">green technology</a>, <a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://inhabitat.com/news-2/" alt=""
style="color: rgb(150, 164, 17); text-decoration: none;"
target="_blank">News</a>, <a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://inhabitat.com/wearable-technology-2/" alt=""
style="color: rgb(150, 164, 17); text-decoration: none;"
target="_blank">Wearable Technology</a></div>
<div><span style="background-color: transparent; text-align: center;"><br>
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<div><span style="background-color: transparent; text-align: center;">l</span></div>
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style="text-align: left; font-size: 13px; width: 540px; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-top: 11px; float: left;">
<p
style="font-size: 12px; font-family: Trebuchet,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: 16px;"><img
moz-do-not-send="true"
src="http://inhabitat.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2012/02/Sensory-Substitution-Device-e1329159165168.jpg"
alt="Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Hebrew University of Jerusalem Sensory Substitution Device, Sensory Substitution Device blind people, Sensory Substitution Device visor, Sensory Substitution Device hebrew university, Sensory Substitution Device amedi, amedi visor, visor blind people, Sensory Substitution Device blind cortex, Sensory Substitution Device visual cortex, Sensory Substitution Device israel, Sensory Substitution Device VISOR"
style="border-style: none; padding: 0px; max-width: 100%;" width="537"
height="302"></p>
<p
style="font-size: 12px; font-family: Trebuchet,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: 16px;">In <em><a
moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Trek:_The_Next_Generation"
style="color: rgb(150, 164, 17); text-decoration: none;"
target="_blank">Star Trek: The Next Generation</a></em>, the
Enterprise’s Chief Engineer Geordi La Forge was blind but was able to
see with the aid of a <a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/VISOR"
style="color: rgb(150, 164, 17); text-decoration: none;"
target="_blank">VISOR (<strong>V</strong>isual <strong>I</strong>nstrument
and <strong>S</strong>ensory <strong>O</strong>rgan <strong>R</strong>eplacement)</a>.
Now a team led by Dr. Amir Amedi at the <a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://media.huji.ac.il/cgi-bin/dovrut/dovrut_search_eng.pl"
style="color: rgb(150, 164, 17); text-decoration: none;"
target="_blank">Hebrew University of Jerusalem</a> has developed a
similar device called the <a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://media.huji.ac.il/cgi-bin/dovrut/dovrut_search_eng.pl"
style="color: rgb(150, 164, 17); text-decoration: none;"
target="_blank">Sensory Substitution Device</a> that ‘hacks’ into the
visual cortex of blind people and allows them to identify objects.</p>
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</div>
<img moz-do-not-send="true"
src="http://inhabitat.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2012/02/VISOR-e1329159123773.jpg"
alt="Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Hebrew University of Jerusalem Sensory Substitution Device, Sensory Substitution Device blind people, Sensory Substitution Device visor, Sensory Substitution Device hebrew university, Sensory Substitution Device amedi, amedi visor, visor blind people, Sensory Substitution Device blind cortex, Sensory Substitution Device visual cortex, Sensory Substitution Device israel, Sensory Substitution Device VISOR"
style="border-style: none;" width="537" height="295">
<p
style="font-size: 12px; font-family: Trebuchet,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: 16px;"></p>
<p
style="font-size: 12px; font-family: Trebuchet,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: 16px;">The <a
moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://media.huji.ac.il/cgi-bin/dovrut/dovrut_search_eng.pl"
style="color: rgb(150, 164, 17); text-decoration: none;"
target="_blank">Sensory Substitution Device</a> uses a camera
to gather visual data and then translates it into sound using a complex
algorithm. This sound is then passed on to the user so that they can
use the assorted noises to identify complex objects and even read
sentences.</p>
<p
style="font-size: 12px; font-family: Trebuchet,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: 16px;">The
invention is said to be relatively easy to use – many people are
capable of identifying objects after a “brief period of training”. It
is hoped that after an extended time, users will be able to learn how
to interpret a large stream of information from the algorithm’s
soundscape.</p>
<p
style="font-size: 12px; font-family: Trebuchet,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: 16px;">Perhaps
the most intriguing part is that the sounds activate the
otherwise dormant visual cortices of congenitally blind people.
According to <a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://www.huji.ac.il/cgi-bin/dovrut/dovrut_search_eng.pl?mesge132914604305872560"
style="color: rgb(150, 164, 17); text-decoration: none;"
target="_blank">people who are much smarter than I am</a>, our visual
cortex organizes data into two parallel pathways – the ventral
occipito-temporal pathway (which deals with form, identity, and color)
and the dorsal occipito-parietal pathway (which focuses on object
location and coordinates visual data with motor function).</p>
<p
style="font-size: 12px; font-family: Trebuchet,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: 16px;">MRI
scans showed that blind people using the sensory device saw these
previously dormat pathways acting as they would if they had had normal
vision. For the blind population of the world, this next generation
technology could soon see massive benefits.</p>
<p
style="font-size: 12px; font-family: Trebuchet,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: 16px;"><big><a
moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://media.huji.ac.il/cgi-bin/dovrut/dovrut_search_eng.pl"
style="color: rgb(150, 164, 17); text-decoration: none;"
target="_blank">+ Hebrew University</a></big></p>
<p
style="font-size: 12px; font-family: Trebuchet,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: 16px;">Via <a
moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://io9.com/5883753/new-device-hacks-into-blind-peoples-visual-cortex-to-let-them-see"
style="color: rgb(150, 164, 17); text-decoration: none;"
target="_blank">io9</a></p>
<p
style="font-size: 12px; font-family: Trebuchet,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: 16px;"><em>Lead
image courtesy of the <a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://media.huji.ac.il/cgi-bin/dovrut/dovrut_search_eng.pl"
style="color: rgb(150, 164, 17); text-decoration: none;"
target="_blank">Hebrew University of Jerusalem</a></em></p>
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<div>------------------------------------------------</div>
<a moz-do-not-send="true" href="mailto:agolden@pobox.com"
target="_blank">agolden@pobox.com</a><br>
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Avi Golden<br>
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137-29 70th Road<br>
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