How Smart Can a Mouth Retainer Be?
March 17, 2015 | Terry Sharrer
Imagine reading Braille with your tongue. That approaches the concept that Colorado State University researchers are developing with a smart retainer in the mouth. It turns out, this is a pretty smart retainer: “A Bluetooth-enabled earpiece transmits sounds to a processor which then converts them into patterns of impulses that represent a word. Rather than stimulating the auditory nerve, these signals are then sent to a smart retainer held in the mouth. When the user presses their tongue against the mouthpiece, tiny electrodes within the device send out patterns of impulses that stimulate nerves on the tongue, which then fire and relay the signals to the brain.” MORE WITH VIDEO
Image Credit: Colorado State University