Mind Chair
A Sensory Substitution Project
You can't see with your skin. Or can you?
In 1969, Prof. Paul Bach-y-Rita attached an array of solenoids to the back of a dentist's chair and produced astonishing results. "You don't see with the eyes. You see with the brain," he observed.*
By building the Mind Chair we are reviving this technology for sensory substitution. A movie camera is attached to an enhanced grid of 400 solenoids installed in the back of the Mind Chair. People are able to sit in the chair, close their eyes and concentrate on the images which are vibrated into their backs by the solenoids.
Science labs have been investigating this technology as a means of helping the blind. We think it shows the brain's ability to process alternative inputs, opening many more possibilities.
Could we see text messages or images internally? What if we can process more than one visual signal at a time? Could we educate our brains differently from childhood?
The working Mind Chair is our research prototype. With it we investigate these questions.
* Science News Online 1 Sept, 2001; vol. 169, no. 9
Our first guest at lottolab
Zissou of Supernatural Studios
Zissou is a 3D artist who contacted us because he was interested in testing the Mind Chair. He came around a few weeks ago and we spend a late Friday afternoon in conversation and Mind Chair experiences.
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Keywords: Mind Chair, Sensory Substitution
Vision, perception, illusions and bees
Dr Beau Lotto hosts Beta Tank and the Mind Chair at lottolab
Beta Tank is graciously being hosted by the lottolab headed by Dr. Beau Lotto of University College London. We have set up a small lab where we invite people to see with their skin.
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Keywords: Mind Chair, Sensory Substitution
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