A new technology is being developed in neurologist Dr. David Eagleman's development center. It is about a vest that uses the sense of touch to help the deaf to "hear" again.
Eagleman, together with Scott Novich and his team from Rice University developed this technology, using the sensory substitution technique. It is the technique that takes over the functions of a damaged sensory organ by feeding information to another channel, usually another sensory organ. This is why some blind people are able to use "echolocation" to "see" what is around them.
VESTa is equipped with a series of motors that vibrate when a microphone picks up sound from its surroundings.
The sound picked up by the microphone is processed by a micro controller which then translates the data into intricate vibrations that a person could feel. With a bit of getting used to, a person can finally perceive sound through tactile means.
The product joins a growing list of devices that allow people to sense what is happening in their environment in different ways and even help some of them regain their senses.
