What does September, green, and the number 6 have in common?
People with synesthesia can link one sensory concept to a different sense. Think of it as one part of the brain spilling-over into another. The most common connection is between shape and color recognition; letters and numbers can take on different hues and shades. Try looking at this number pattern; can you see the words?
Each person has a unique set of associations. The letter A may look red to one person, and yellow to another. Both would feel uncomfortable if you show them a blue colored A.
Some people can see time laid out as a track or a line, and each month as a different shape: June may be longer and thinner than December, the future and past stretch in different directions, and the weeks and the days stack up in detailed compartments.
Some can see the colors of different sounds and notes, or associate spoken words with shapes. The concepts and senses mingle together like a rich metaphor. Neurologist Ramachandran mentioned that synesthesia is eight times more likely in artists, and may form the basis of creativity and metaphoric thinking.
So your brain can wire itself to link between two different senses, or two modes of input. How can we use that?
To repair and replace senses for people with a damaged sensory organ! Someone could be blind, or color-blind, because of a defect in her eyes, but the visual centers of her brain could still be fully functional. More on that in the next post.
Showing posts with label augmentation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label augmentation. Show all posts
Monday, September 21, 2009
Synthetic senses
We all perceive the world through our senses. Together, they filter reality into subjective experience. But reality has so much more to it than what we can see, hear, feel, taste, and smell, right? Yes, but it is harder to imagine that I expected.
A colorblind person can't understand what some colors look like; she has no basis to compare red and green. Just knowing there is a difference doesn't make the problem go away. Similarly, we don't understand physical concepts like "north" or "10 amps" until they are translated, with instruments, into something that we can sense. A few pioneers have tried to incorporate these instruments into their bodies, in hope of finding a new, synthetic sense.
Adam Skory from Noisebridge (a hackspace) developed a wearable directional sensor called the Northpaw that translates the magnetic direction into a buzzing signal. The wearer feels a constant vibration on her ankle, but the experience quickly becomes subconscious - the brain can rewire the sense of touch into a new sense of direction! This wonderful property of the brain is called "neuroplasticity".
"It passes in and out of my integrated experience. When it’s at its best, my awareness is not of the touch from the Northpaw, it’s the awareness of north from the Northpaw." - My New Sense Organ
While having a compass sense might not seem useful to most people, the Air Force has been working on a similar device that helps pilots: the Spatial Orientation Enhancement System. During tricky maneuvers, a pilot may lose the sense of gravity, which is perceived by our inner ears. In free-fall, this sense becomes disoriented, and the pilot may forget which way is down - the result can be fatal. This suit uses gentle vibrations to remind him the right direction. This augmented sense may become even more useful as the Airforce switches from aircrafts to UAVs: a joystick pilot currently has no situational awareness other than what he sees on the screen.
Some body-modification enthusiasts have implanted small magnets into their fingertips, enabling them to feel magnetic fields, electric currents, and some metals.
But there's more, right? What else can we sense? Most super-senses are just augmentations of the ones we have: Superman's x-ray vision, Predator's infrared vision, telescopic and microscopic vision, super-hearing, a bat's echolocation, a dog's ability of smell, a bee's vision of polarized light, a spider's sense of vibration. Barring any supernatural phenomena, it seems we've come to the end of our exploration of sensory input. After all, physics and chemistry only allows for a few fundamental modes of interaction.
Or maybe, like the colorblind, I'm unable to imagine what other wonderful experiences there are in the margins of reality.
A colorblind person can't understand what some colors look like; she has no basis to compare red and green. Just knowing there is a difference doesn't make the problem go away. Similarly, we don't understand physical concepts like "north" or "10 amps" until they are translated, with instruments, into something that we can sense. A few pioneers have tried to incorporate these instruments into their bodies, in hope of finding a new, synthetic sense.
Adam Skory from Noisebridge (a hackspace) developed a wearable directional sensor called the Northpaw that translates the magnetic direction into a buzzing signal. The wearer feels a constant vibration on her ankle, but the experience quickly becomes subconscious - the brain can rewire the sense of touch into a new sense of direction! This wonderful property of the brain is called "neuroplasticity".
While having a compass sense might not seem useful to most people, the Air Force has been working on a similar device that helps pilots: the Spatial Orientation Enhancement System. During tricky maneuvers, a pilot may lose the sense of gravity, which is perceived by our inner ears. In free-fall, this sense becomes disoriented, and the pilot may forget which way is down - the result can be fatal. This suit uses gentle vibrations to remind him the right direction. This augmented sense may become even more useful as the Airforce switches from aircrafts to UAVs: a joystick pilot currently has no situational awareness other than what he sees on the screen.
Some body-modification enthusiasts have implanted small magnets into their fingertips, enabling them to feel magnetic fields, electric currents, and some metals.
But there's more, right? What else can we sense? Most super-senses are just augmentations of the ones we have: Superman's x-ray vision, Predator's infrared vision, telescopic and microscopic vision, super-hearing, a bat's echolocation, a dog's ability of smell, a bee's vision of polarized light, a spider's sense of vibration. Barring any supernatural phenomena, it seems we've come to the end of our exploration of sensory input. After all, physics and chemistry only allows for a few fundamental modes of interaction.
Or maybe, like the colorblind, I'm unable to imagine what other wonderful experiences there are in the margins of reality.
Friday, September 4, 2009
Epic Showdown: American power armor vs Japanese cyborg exoskeleton
We need to make this fight happen.
On the right: the XOS combat chassis, developed by Raytheon Sarcos to augment the American soldier of the future; can bench 200 lb weights till he gets bored; flexible enough to go up and down steep inclines, and strong enough to punch your head clean off. May come with bulletproof armor plating and sharp stabbing hooks. Available exclusively to the military. (video)
On the left: HAL exoskeleton, developed by Cyberdine and Japanese roboticist Dr. Sankai; can lift a paralyzed man to the summit of the Swiss Alps; carries your grandmother down the stairs; controlled by nerve impulses; helps paralyzed or weakened people to walk again. Comes with a 5 hour battery. Anyone can rent this for $2000 a month! (video, video)
Who do you think would win in this fight? Obviously, the killer military machine, right? Don't be so sure. Doesn't the HAL suit remind you of something? Maybe a story that we all know and love:
A gawky and oppressed teen finds shiny robotic suit. It transforms nerd into superhero. He stops criminals and saves babies and rescues stranded commuters. At the end, he faces down the nasty bully who has been slapping him around for years, and somehow the bully had gotten hold of the battlesuit that looks like a Terminator. It's David vs. Goliath. I think we all know how that fight should turn out.
This scenario brings up the issue of image and narrative. We have learned so many associations and stories that we can't help but draw connections when we contact something new. A piece of technology is not just a collection of functions; it speaks to us, to our subconscious. Apple, for example, is a master of this technique: merging function with personality.
If we hope to make smooth strides in living with any new forms of technology, we should pay attention to the public perception of it.
Article: Cyborg Exoskeletons May Soon Become as Common as Bicycles
On the right: the XOS combat chassis, developed by Raytheon Sarcos to augment the American soldier of the future; can bench 200 lb weights till he gets bored; flexible enough to go up and down steep inclines, and strong enough to punch your head clean off. May come with bulletproof armor plating and sharp stabbing hooks. Available exclusively to the military. (video)
On the left: HAL exoskeleton, developed by Cyberdine and Japanese roboticist Dr. Sankai; can lift a paralyzed man to the summit of the Swiss Alps; carries your grandmother down the stairs; controlled by nerve impulses; helps paralyzed or weakened people to walk again. Comes with a 5 hour battery. Anyone can rent this for $2000 a month! (video, video)
Who do you think would win in this fight? Obviously, the killer military machine, right? Don't be so sure. Doesn't the HAL suit remind you of something? Maybe a story that we all know and love:
A gawky and oppressed teen finds shiny robotic suit. It transforms nerd into superhero. He stops criminals and saves babies and rescues stranded commuters. At the end, he faces down the nasty bully who has been slapping him around for years, and somehow the bully had gotten hold of the battlesuit that looks like a Terminator. It's David vs. Goliath. I think we all know how that fight should turn out.
This scenario brings up the issue of image and narrative. We have learned so many associations and stories that we can't help but draw connections when we contact something new. A piece of technology is not just a collection of functions; it speaks to us, to our subconscious. Apple, for example, is a master of this technique: merging function with personality.
If we hope to make smooth strides in living with any new forms of technology, we should pay attention to the public perception of it.
Article: Cyborg Exoskeletons May Soon Become as Common as Bicycles
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