I can't even perceive what that would be like. Imagine never having access to a particular sense, and then just getting it one day, it would probably be really overwhelming at first, how do you even handle a sense that you've literally never experienced in your life?
this post was submitted on 19 Mar 2024
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It really is hard to imagine what that would be like. This might be a comparable experience though https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/device-lets-blind-see-with-tongues/
Very interesting stuff! I hope that more modern versions of this device are a little smaller than that one though, 9 square centimetres sounds a little uncomfortable to fit in your mouth all the time.
Indeed, it is pretty wild to think how flexible the brain is though. Like you apply a completely new type of input and it learns to figure out how to make sense of the data and use it in a meaningful way. I haven't really followed up on whether there's been any progress with that device. I agree the initial version doesn't sound very comfortable.
Yeah, I know of deaf people who were able to use echolocation, listening to the sound of their footsteps echoing to walk around, even doing things like playing basketball that way. Though something like that doesn't really work in a loud environment like a city street, so using "taste" to replace sight like this would be much more useful in those sorts of situations.
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