The New York Times > Science > New Tools to Help Patients Reclaim Damaged Senses.
Amazing, incredible, etc. Researchers are using electronics to re-map the brain's processing of signals. Balance was recovered by one person's daily use of a device that provided signals to her tongue to inform her brain of movement and position. It has applications in vision, touch, and hearing, at a minimum. And since it can be used to enhance video games and by pilots and divers, it'll be developed commercially fairly quickly. It reminds me of some of the "body suit" technology in the science fiction of Melissa Scott.
A couple of great quotes:
Dr. Yuri Danilov, a neuroscientist and engineer...said the research team had thought of dozens of applications for the BrainPort, which he called a "USB port to the brain."
Dr. Raj said the tongue unit had already been tried out in a game that involved shooting villains. "In two minutes you stop feeling the buzz on your tongue and get a visual representation of the bad guy," he said. "You feel like you have X-ray vision. Unfortunately it makes the game boring."
