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Gadget of the week

brainport-v100webtopThis device helps the blind navigate by tingling their tongues

By Jon Fingas From engadget
Remember the BrainPort, that device that helps the blind get around by sending electrical signals to their tongues? It’s finally getting the green light. The Food and Drug Administration has cleared the BrainPort V100 for sale in the US, giving sightless Americans a unique way to augment their perception of the world around them. In its finished form, the BrainPort sends visual signals from a pair of camera-equipped glasses to a set of electrodes that stimulate your tongue based on object characteristics such as distance, movement and shape. You only need to pay close attention to the V100’s tingles and vibrations to identify items. It’s not the same as restoring vision and won’t completely replace guide dogs or other conventional assistance, but it could fill in a lot of missing information.

IMAGE: Wicab’s BrainPort V100

For more on this story go to: http://www.engadget.com/2015/06/22/brainport-v100-gets-fda-approval/?ncid=rss_truncated

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