At the Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition in Pensacola,
researchers are developing a system that will use the tongue as the interface
for Navy SEAL divers, Army Rangers, and other front-line soldiers. Given the
very science-fiction-esque name of “Brain Port,” the technology enables sonar
echoes to be detected via the underused sensory organ, leaving the user’s hands
and eyes free to respond to immediate dangers.

Graphical world opens up for visually-impaired people

A new tactile device will allow the widespread use of graphical interfaces for
visually-impaired people. The tactile graphical display will open up new avenues
of employment, communication and personal expression. Conceivably it could do
for graphics what Louis Braille did for text in 1824.