Blind British Soldier Regains Sight With His Tongue
These small electrical impulses allow patients who have lost their sight to recognize simple shapes and letters, and to "see" basic gray-scale images. Lance Corporal Craig Lundberg, who lost his vision when struck by a rocket-propelled grenade while serving in Basra, has become the first British citizen and the first member of the armed services to get his mouth on the new device. With its help, Lundberg is able to navigate obstacles, and even read signs. Though the images produced are too low in resolution to allow him to pick up a novel, the ability to identify elevator buttons and bathroom signs is a welcome improvement.
The BrainPort, as it's called, is available at the rather steep cost of £10,000 (or about $15,097) and is still evolving. Hit up the source link to check out a video from the BBC of the revolutionary device in action. [From: BBC]
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Comments
8
Subscribe to commentsKrazyCalvinMar 16th 2010 11:04PM
One step closer to Geordi LaForge's VISOR
(Unverified)Mar 17th 2010 10:35AM
AHHH! a fellow trekkie! I'm so fascinated by improvements in visual technology since i, myself am visually impaired.....
i wonder if his brain usues teh visual cortex or not since he has o "visualize" the info being fed to him....hehe thats kinda funny since it is kinda being "fed" to him!
(Unverified)Mar 17th 2010 8:44AM
Recently saw an old episode of the Bold Ones that dealt with this issue. Wonder whatever happened to that device and how it has progressed
shereMar 17th 2010 9:03AM
No amount of money will ever compenstae this brave soldier, but the British government is doing the right thing.
(Unverified)Mar 17th 2010 10:35AM
I agree-i'm glad there are some responsible governments that care for their people, unlike the US. I'm very happy for this guy. I lost my vision 5 years ago (i was 18) and I thought the world was over (even though i could still see fuzzy shapes). I have been working on restoring as much of my vision as possible and can now read normal print with my left eye (my right is useless though). Its a very disorenting thing to loose your vision, and scary too. you become afriad of everything and rely so heavily on others for help it makes you feel incompetent. I was afraid f CURBS because i couldnt see them! I really hope this man can live out his life in relative normalcy with this device. Like you said-the money doesnt matter.
seattleite4Mar 17th 2010 12:56PM
Orlenda, how can you say this government doesn't care about it's people? It seems to me that the government is supporting to so many that it is going broke. I just wonder what makes you say that and if you think governments in other countries do more for their people? I have visited quite a few countries and have not walked away feeling my goverment or country was lacking.
(Unverified)Mar 17th 2010 12:47PM
leave it to british engineers to Goldberg a solution to a simple problem. Is there a bowling ball, ironing board and elephant somewhere in this 'new' system? Tie the camera to a PDA with character recongnition SW and a text to speech module and it will READ ALOUD ANYTHING YOU POINT THE CAMERA AT, for about $400.
shereMar 17th 2010 1:48PM
Colleen: If you think we're doing such a good job, check out infant moratilty rates for US versus the rest of the developed world. Also check out the pay differential between the most highly paid Americans compared to the lowest paid; then compare it to other developed countries. Then think about what percentage of the highest paid incomes go to health insurance compared to the percentage paid by the lowest, if they can even get it. Get a grip girl.