From newshub.ccs.yorku.ca!ists!torn!utgpu!news-server.ecf!utcsri!rutgers!jvnc.net!yale.edu!qt.cs.utexas.edu!cs.utexas.edu!sun-barr!decwrl!mcnc!aurs01!throop Tue Jun 23 13:20:56 EDT 1992
Article 6283 of comp.ai.philosophy:
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>From: throop@aurs01.UUCP (Wayne Throop)
Newsgroups: comp.ai.philosophy
Subject: Re: Physical versus Computaional (was Re: Transducers)
Message-ID: <60836@aurs01.UUCP>
Date: 17 Jun 92 14:23:10 GMT
References: <1992Jun16.221250.9397@kbsw1>
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> chris@kbsw1 (Chris Kostanick 806 1044)
> re muscle movements and thinking
> In air combat, being
> aware of how the encounter is unfolding in 3-D is vital to staying 
> alive. This understanding of what the little dots out there or radar
> blips actually means is called situational awareness. [...]
> The most situational awareness seems to be caused by tasks that
> require lots of fine real time motion control.  [...]

Compare the experiments with "vision" via a somewhat coarse grid of
"pixels" on the skin, each pixel represented by a small buzzer or
vibrating point.  The pixels were driven by a camera.  In some models
the camera was built into "eyeglasses" so that the person testing
the system could simply "look" at objects by head movements.  The
idea was for a prosthetic device for the blind, to provide a long
range sense with somewhat higher resolution than hearing.

People trying it out reported that they initially had a great deal of
trouble interpreting the "images", which were typically presented as a
square grid on the back or stomach.  After some experience in
interpreting the pixel grid, some threshold would be passed, and the
perception would snap into place, and the signals would be "perceived"
as an object "out there" instead of as a bunch of buzzing pinpoints to
laboriously interpret.

I'm not sure how much interaction with other senses vs interaction
with motor skills was involved in reaching and passing this threshold.
In a blind person it's a little hard to separate the operation of the
usual "other" spatial senses (ie, touch) from the excersize of
motor skills.  It's also unclear to me how a sighted person would
do in reaching this threshold, by simply using sight with no
manipulation to "train" the perception.  It seems to me this would
make for interesting research.  (Of course, I may simply be
unaware of ongoing research in this area.)

I'm not aware of any actual aids for the blind coming from this
research.  I recall a simple sonar device packaged as eyeglasses
being marketed at one time, but nothing like the above.  I saw this
on some PBS special on prosthetics some interminable time ago
(maybe 5-8 years, maybe longer).

Wayne Throop       ...!mcnc!aurgate!throop


