A fascinating development in hearing technology has been unveiled in the national press: The Daily Telegraph reported that scientists are working on a device which will allow deaf people to “hear” simply by touching their tongue against a small Bluetooth-enabled device.
They hope that the device will eventually replace cochlear implants which are invasive, expensive and not suitable for everybody. The new mouthpiece works in a similar way to cochlear implants by taking audio from an earpiece microphone and sending it to the mouthpiece via Bluetooth. The signal is then transmitted to the many sensitive nerves found in the tongue.
The scientists believe it will take a couple of months practice by users to interpret the signals sent to the tongue as sound but that it is easily achievable.
Although the current prototype is large, the researchers believe it can be developed into a small unit which can be worn invisibly in the mouth.
To read the article in full visit: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/11354541/New-device-allows-deaf-people-to-hear-with-their-tongue.html
