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Today we have the sad story of the optacon, a cautionary tale that is the reason I prefer the vOICe over the brain port for my sensory substitution needs.
Here’s some rather old films that explain what the optacon is, or rather was, and how it works, or rather worked.
Optaconmovies – YouTube
And here’s the story of how it all went wrong.
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Today we learn of Paul Bach-y-Rita, and his work with sensory substitution, including the tongue stimulator used to provide visual information to the blind.
Here’s a YouTube video about Paul Bach-y-Rita and his work.
Paul Bach-y-Rita and Neuroplasticity – YouTube
Here’s an article about the tongue stimulator
Seeing with Your Tongue | The New Yorker
And finally, here’s a link to the company that manufactures and sells the tongue stimulator.
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If you read the following article, you’ll note that the person using the robotic exoskeleton is getting sensory feedback via his skin. Can we really use one sense in place of another?
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In our last episode, we saw attempts to deal with spinal cord injury by use of a robotic suit directed by the subject’s brain. This time, we have a different approach. From monkeys to rats, here is a paralyzed rat that walked.
Checkout a roughly fifteen minute tedtalk on the subject.
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Today, we examine the work of Miguel Nicolelis, who has been researching a computer brain interface.
In this article, we learn of how a monkey was able to move a robotic arm with its thoughts.
This 15-minute tedtalk covers many years of his work, including how monkeys have been connected to a virtual world, with both input and output running directly to and from the monkey’s brain.
Miguel Nicolelis: A monkey that controls a robot with its thoughts.
If that isn’t strange enough, here’s work from 2013, when two rat brains were networked together.
New Research Suggests Two Rat Brains Can Be Linked – The New York Times
A Brain-to-Brain Interface for Real-Time Sharing of Sensorimotor Information
Finally, we have the BBC article on when a paraplegic used a robotic exoskeleton to deliver the 2014 World Cup’s ceremonial first kick.
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During today’s episode, I became confused as to the date at which thing got published when. I got it now. If only I’d had one of these devices to help.
Here’s the first article I read on Allan Snyder’s work, published in 2003. It’s an article in The New York Times, and a quick but enjoyable read. I don’t have a link to the first actual academic paper of his that I went through.
Here’s a paper Allan Snyder published in 2009 that covers much of his work over several years.
Explaining and inducing savant skills: privileged access to lower level, less-processed information
Here’s a longish video put out by the world science festival in 2015.
Spark of Genius? Awakening a Better Brain
And last but not least, a company that provides completely unregulated devices that you can use at home to stimulate your brain for somewhere between roughly 150 and 600 dollars American. If you don’t mind that nobody has any idea what the long-term effects might turn out to be, and that no one is regulating these devices.
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Sometimes, extraordinary abilities are demonstrated by those who are extraordinarily limited.
The savant syndrome: an extraordinary condition. A synopsis: past, present, future
And sometimes, abilities arise from an illness of, or injury to, the brain.
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Today, I’ll walk you through Arthur Benjamin’s trick.
Once again, here’s a link to his ted talk. He does the trick I’m giving away at around 5 minutes and 42 seconds.
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After enjoying Arthur Benjamin doing his mathemagics, I thought I’d give it a try for myself. I wrote a little software and gave it a go. Join me and you’ll find out why I’m not a mental calculator, but that anyone can do it if they know the trick.
Here’s a link to the ted talk in question:
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You could be better at doing math than you might think. There are methods that allow one to do tricks with numbers that seem just across the street from flat out impossible.
Watch as Arthur Benjamin shows us how one can calculate in ones head, sometimes faster than one could use a calculator.
Arthur Benjamin: A performance of “Mathemagic”
Approximately 10 minutes and 42 seconds into that first video, he uses some variant or another of the major system in order to hold some numbers in his mind, while he works on others. Have a look at the major system and how it works.
Finally, Arthur Benjamin shows us how to do a couple of mental math methods. The tricks are surprisingly easy to use. Impress your friends and scare your neighbors!