Concepts, Challenges, and Controversies

“Seeing” with the Tongue

Although each type of sensory input is received primarily by a distinct brain
region responsible for perception of that modality, the regions of the brain involved
with perceptual processing receive sensory signals from a variety of sources. Thus, the
visual cortex receives sensory input not only from the eyes but from the body surface
and ears as well. One group of scientists is exploiting in an unusual but exciting way this
sharing of sensory input by multiple regions of the brain. In this research, blind or
sighted but blind folded volunteers are able to crudely perceive shapes and features in
space by means of a tongue display unit. When this device, which consists of a grid of
electrodes is positioned on the tongue, it translates images detected by a camera into a
pattern of electrical signals that activate touch receptors on the tongue (see the
accompanying figure). “The pattern of tingling” on the tongue as a result of the light-
induced electrical signals corresponds with the image recorded by the camera. With
practice, the visual cortex interprets this alternate sensory input as a visual image. As
one of the investigators who developed this technique claims, a person sees with the
visual cortex, not with the eyes. Any means of sending signals to the visual cortex can be
perceived as a visual image. For example, one blind participant in the study saw the
flickering of a candle flame for the first time by means of this tongue device.
The tongue is a better choice than the skin for receiving this light-turned-tactile
input because the saliva is an electrically conducive fluid that readily conducts the
current generated in the device by the visual input. Further-more, the tongue is densely
populated with tactile receptors, opening up the possibility that the tongue can provide
higher acuity of visual input than the skin could. This feature will be important if such a
device is ever used to help the visually impaired. The researchers’ goal is to improve the
resolution of the device by increasing the number of in-the-mouth electrodes. Even so,
the perceived image will still be crude because the acuity afforded by this device can
never come close to matching that provided by the eyes’ small receptive fields.
Although using the tongue as a surrogate eye could never provide anywhere near
the same vision as a normal eye, the hope is that this technique will afford people who
are blind a means to make out doorways, to see objects as vague shapes, and to track
motion. Even this limited visual input would enable a sightless person to get around
easier and improve the quality of his or her life. The device’s developers plan to shrink
the size of the unit so that it will fit inconspicuously in the users’ mouth and be
connected by a wireless link to a miniature camera mounted on eyeglasses. Such a
trimmed-down unit would be practical to use and cosmetically acceptable.