New device that
translates words into vibrations for the deaf
Washington, Nov 23: Scientists
have created a new wearable device that translates spoken words into vibrations
– helping hearing impaired people perceive speech in a completely new way.
The new device, known as the VEST (versatile extra-sensory
transducer), can be worn on top of clothing or underneath.
The device depends on sensory substitution which involves
feeding information from one sense into another.
‘At the end of the day, your sensory receptors are all
sending electrical signals to the brain,’ Scott Novich, neuroscientist at the
Baylor College of Medicine in the US, was quoted as saying in a LiveScience
report.
A microphone on the vest captures sounds from the
surroundings and feeds them into an Android tablet or smartphone. The
smartphone then extracts the audio relevant to speech and converts it into
unique patterns of vibration in about 24 sounds.
Novich and his colleague David Eagleman have tested the
device on a handful of deaf and hearing volunteers. They compared two different
algorithms for translating words into vibration. Both the deaf and hearing
participants can learn to interpret spoken words as patterns of vibration on
the skin.
The research was presented at the 44th annual meeting of
the Society for Neuroscience in Washington, DC, recently.
Source: www.thehealthsite.com
24.11.2014
Revealed — why contact lenses cause discomfort among
some users
Melbourne, Nov 23: If
you are not comfortable wearing contact lenses, it could be due to degradation
of the lipid layer in the eyes’ natural tear film, says a study. Patients with
discomfort showed degradation of the lipid layer after a few hours of wearing
contact lenses, the researchers found. The tear film is a three-layered
‘sandwich’ of fluids that nourishes and protects the eyes.
The lipid layer is the tear film’s outermost layer, which
is composed of fat- and wax-like molecules called lipids. It performs an
important barrier function in preventing evaporation of tears and maintaining
stability of the tear film.
Discomfort is the primary reason why otherwise successful
contact lens users do not wear contact lenses,’ said Anthony Adams,
editor-in-chief of Optometry and Vision Science, the official journal of the
American Academy of Optometry.
‘Our authors identified the changes in the lipid layer of
the tear film in people who have discomfort wearing contact lenses,’ Adams
added.
The researchers found that applying an eyelid spray
appeared to reduce drying of the tear film and help make wearing contact lenses
more comfortable. After the spray was used on the eyelids, the stability of the
tear film increased significantly.
The study appeared in the journal Optometry and
Vision Science.
Source: www.thehealthsite.com
24.11.2014
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