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Sensory Feedback using Electrical Stimulation of the Tactile Sense
Published in Raymond V. Smith, John H. Leslie, Rehabilitation Engineering, 2018
Andrew Y.J. Szeto, Ronald R. Riso
Efforts to implement electrocutaneous stimulation into reading aids for the blind have waned in recent years for several reasons. One reason is the availability of the Optacon™131 a portable reading device which uses miniature mechanical vibrators to generate tactile images of letters scanned by a handheld camera. Secondly, advances in computing, optical character recognition techniques, and synthesized speech have led to the development of direct print- to-voice output reading aids such as the Kurzwell Reading Machine (KRM). Current models of the KRM are able to recognize multiple-character fonts and produce speech at rates up to 1.5 times normal, about 225 words per minute.132 Continued advances in technology and software will undoubtedly reduce the cost and increase the portability and affordability of this highly effective reading aid.
Healing, cure, and the whole person
Published in Stephen P Kliewer, John Saultz, Healthcare and Spirituality, 2017
Stephen P Kliewer, John Saultz
Another issue in today’s world that challenges and disturbs a sense of coherence is change. There was a time when change happened so slowly it was hardly noticeable. There was change, but the changes were incremental, infrequent, and manageable. Now change is rapid and exponential. Ray Kurzweil is an inventor, an entrepreneur, an author, and a futurist. The creator of the first reading machine for the blind, speech recognition technology, and many other technologies that help envision the future, he is one of the most innovative creators of our time. It is his belief that we are experiencing an age of acceleration, a time when change not only happens, but also happens with increasing rapidity.
The future potential of the Stentrode
Published in Expert Review of Medical Devices, 2019
Sam E. John, David B. Grayden, Takufumi Yanagisawa
With the dawn of the start-up culture, we have seen a great interest from technology entrepreneurs toward experimenting with medical technologies. The last decade has seen tremendous growth in the non-medical use of implants [12] from bio-hackers in their backyards to large companies such as Google [13]. The thought that a BMI may become an integral part of everyday life and directly communicate with our smartphones and computers is exciting. For example, Google aims to put ‘the web in your head by 2020’ [13]; Facebook aims to ‘build a mind-reading machine’ [14] and promises to type 100 words per minute by thinking. Investors in Silicon Valley have invested $billions already in healthcare start-ups focusing on BMI [15].