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www.wired.com/wired/archi....04/esp.html
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The effects of the "feelSpace belt" — as its inventor, Osnabrück cognitive scientist Peter König, dubbed the device — became even more profound over time. König says while he wore it he was "intuitively aware of the direction of my home or my office. I'd be waiting in line in the cafeteria and spontaneously think: I live over there." On a visit to Hamburg, about 100 miles away, he noticed that he was conscious of the direction of his hometown.
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The researchers started testing the device on people with damaged inner ears. Not only did it restore their balance (presumably by giving them a data feed that was cleaner than the one coming from their semi circular canals) but the effects lasted even after they'd removed the mouthpiece — sometimes for hours or days.
"""
"""
The effects of the "feelSpace belt" — as its inventor, Osnabrück cognitive scientist Peter König, dubbed the device — became even more profound over time. König says while he wore it he was "intuitively aware of the direction of my home or my office. I'd be waiting in line in the cafeteria and spontaneously think: I live over there." On a visit to Hamburg, about 100 miles away, he noticed that he was conscious of the direction of his hometown.
"""
.
.
.
"""
The researchers started testing the device on people with damaged inner ears. Not only did it restore their balance (presumably by giving them a data feed that was cleaner than the one coming from their semi circular canals) but the effects lasted even after they'd removed the mouthpiece — sometimes for hours or days.
"""
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Canada
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Re: Enhanced Sensory Devices
Tue, April 3, 2007 - 10:44 PMI disagree with some of the precepts that are extended in this article. I have an excellent sense of direction. it was more pronounced in the area I grew up, but after a decade in LA, I always know where the ocean is. A lot of the sensory dimming seems to be from over-amped nervous systems (city lights, traffic noise, caffeine) and the lack of desire to parse out the more subtle inputs like barometric pressure, magnetic direction, atmospheric conductivity, etc. All of the effects this guy mentioned are effects I've duplicated at one point or another through meditation, or just simply paying attention. All this belt does is amplify an already existing sense. -
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Re: Enhanced Sensory Devices
Wed, April 4, 2007 - 8:40 PM"All this belt does is amplify an already existing sense."
That seems like a gross miscategorization of the device, and of the article. All of these devices don't amplify a sense, in the way that binoculars or a hearing aid would -- they remap one sense to another. And the focus of all of this research was to help people who were either lacking a sense naturally (disease leading to loss of balance) or conditionally (like the pilots who lose directional sense in the dark).
Be happy you don't need one! But for certain folks, I can see how it would be a great advantage. I originally heard of the tongue sensor as a way for the blind to "see." Pretty damn cool, and important, research. -
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Re: Enhanced Sensory Devices
Mon, April 9, 2007 - 10:47 PMYeah, I didn't see the other two pages.
Actually, I thought about using something like this as a silent map for navigating larger office buildings. An array of sensors plus a radio feedback system could direct people to whatever office they're looking for. You could build it into a watchband kind of device. -
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Re: Enhanced Sensory Devices
Mon, April 9, 2007 - 11:05 PM"Actually, I thought about using something like this as a silent map for navigating larger office buildings."
Interesting idea. Imagine tying that into your car's navigation computer, so that it tells you when to turn without having to look at the map. Or to GPS so that you can be directed which way to walk in a city.
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Re: Enhanced Sensory Devices
Mon, April 9, 2007 - 7:29 PM -
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Re: Enhanced Sensory Devices
Mon, April 9, 2007 - 10:33 PMPretty amusing. A cool experiment.
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Re: Enhanced Sensory Devices
Mon, April 16, 2007 - 5:27 PMInteresting. Again, not really a new sense, just modifying an existing sense to catch something new. -
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Re: Enhanced Sensory Devices
Tue, April 17, 2007 - 1:50 PMI'd argue that it is a new sense. It uses already existing receptors, but the feeling of vibration from inside one's thumb is unique; It couldn't really be confused with any other input. True - you're not plugging something directly into the brain, but the brain does juggle around its connections to interpret the new data. Indirectly, the brain is being modified. -
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Re: Enhanced Sensory Devices
Fri, April 20, 2007 - 4:46 PMThe brain is definitely being reqired. But it isn't as fundamentally different as say, visual vs. olfactory information, right? I dunno, maybe it's jsut how we define the thing. -
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Re: Enhanced Sensory Devices
Sat, April 21, 2007 - 2:12 PMIt does seem like a fine line. I'd be interested to know what a neurologist would have to say on the subject.
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