TECHNOLOGY

[Ms. Kathy]

Technology opens door to jobs for people with disabilities
Email this storyPrint this story Wednesday January 10, 2007
By Vikki Bland


When it comes to using IT in the workplace most of us take the basics for granted - we're able to see the PC screen, for example.

Minnie Baragwanath, strategic disability advisor for the Auckland City Council can't see her PC screen, a mobile phone screen or a photocopier display because she suffers from Stargardt's disease, an inherited macular degeneration disease that causes a progressive loss of central vision for both eyes, but does not affect peripheral vision.

Baragwanath, who has had the disease since childhood, says she would not be able to work without the effort some IT companies (particularly IBM, Microsoft and niche disability software developers) have put into developing hardware and software with disabled people in mind.

"When computers first came out there was no adaptive software and I couldn't use them at all; now I can sit at a desk and hold down a full time job and read emails and write reports. For me [IT] makes the difference between being able to work in a meaningful job or not," says Baragwanath, who has a BA in English literature and a Bachelor of Communication Studies degree.


Baragwanath says since 2001 the Auckland City Council has spearheaded a programme of disability reform to make its practices and services accessible and inclusive for the disabled. This has included reconsideration of council buildings, bus shelters, footpaths, and events, through to information technology.

In November last year the council also collaborated with Vodafone, IBM, AUT and the Waitemata District Health Board to launch 'Innovation Unleashed', an event profiling communications advances accessible to disabled people and hoped to change the way business and civic leaders view disabled people. Baragwanath says at present too many communication systems are designed without the disabled in mind.

"That's crazy when you think there are one billion disabled people in the world and around 800,000 in New Zealand alone. Imagine the potential spending power of this group if products were designed for them," she says.

Baragwanath says internal efforts to provide a workplace accessible to disabled people obviously aids retention strategies and creates a viable workplace for a greater section of the population - including older people.

"We have execs here that would prefer to read a screen in 16-point font, but wouldn't class themselves as having a disability," she says.

Recent statistics reveal around 50 per cent of people over the age of 65 in New Zealand have at least one disability as does 20 per cent of the general population. So what part can IT marketers and developers play in improving the odds so a greater proportion of disabled people can seek meaningful employment?

Baragwanath says IT designers who come up with new products designed for the eyes of a 20-year-old are doing employers no favours - at work, she uses screen reading software called Jaws which lets her zoom in on text and magnify the screen as a whole, and members of the Council's IT team sat down and watched her use the internet when they were re-designing the council web site.

"The internet, when it is accessible, is the next biggest revolution for blind people since Braille; only one per cent of the world's books are available in Braille or as audio books - yet we live in a visual world that is based on written material," she says.

And it's thumbs down to mobile phone designers and developers of new printers and photocopiers with small digital screens. Baragwanath says if any of these devices display a message or an error she has no idea what it is because it is displayed too small. To use mobile phones the sight-impaired need adaptive software such as Vodafone's Talks which screen-reads messages sent to and from some phones.

Baragwanath speaks highly of this tool and of devices from Christchurch IT developer Humanware, which develops and market products for the visually impaired including mobile magnifiers, auto-readers and Trekker, a device that uses GPS and digital maps to help blind people find their way in urban and rural areas.

However, Baragwanath says add-on software is often expensive and suffers from compatibility issues with some operating systems - the ideal is for IT developers to design universal systems with integrated disability aids at 'drawing board' level.

"Japan is getting its head around this and some of the Scandinavian countries are also doing better [than New Zealand]. We have come a long way, but there's a long way to go," she says.

Source Link:http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/11/story.cfm?c_id=11&objectid=10418372

[Ms. Kathy]

'Sight' that tingles
Canadian researchers part of team testing revolutionary technology for the blind: Nationalpost.com
Allison Hanes, National Post
Published: Tuesday, February 06, 2007
Last summer Mike Ciarciello went to a Montreal laboratory, donned a pair of goggles mounted with a camera and stuck a strange device the size of a quarter in his mouth.

By constantly moving his head from side to side to scan the room and pressing his tongue against a square of 100 tiny electrodes, the 36-year-old, who has been blind since birth, was able to "see" for the first time.

For a few short hours, Mr. Ciarciello stepped out of his arm's-length universe of shadows and light to make out a black triangle projected on to a white wall, navigate an obstacle course, even perceive that a person was walking in front of him.



SEEING WITH TONGUES: New technology to help the blind...Visual data is transmitted from a tiny camera on the forehead to a device on the tongue as electrical impulses. The impulses activate the visual cortex of the brain, allowing the user to sense the world around them. For the first time, blind people will be able to sense objects in the distance and even movement. Visual cortex
Kagan McLeod, National Post
"The guy came in on my left then moved to my right. I was actually able to see that. I was like, 'Hey get out of my way!' "he said with a laugh.

It was an indescribable experience for the teacher and musician who normally feels his way through life with his hands and a cane.

The blind could be able to see with their tongues within a decade due to the latest advances in technology and neuropsychology.

An electrical-impulse-emitting device being developed by researchers in Canada, Denmark and the United States is already allowing those like Mr. Ciarciello to detect movement and sense objects at a distance. One day it may allow them to perceive faces and colours -- even read text.

Maurice Ptito, a Universite de Montreal neuropsychologist testing the revolutionary technology on people like Mr. Ciarciello, hopes the invention will do for the blind what the hearing aid did for the deaf.

"For blind people it's so important, because it means they could do it without a dog or a cane," he said in an interview from Copenhagen, where he is on a year-long sabbatical. "They could feel motion, things coming to them, or things moving from left to right. It's quite fantastic actually."

The devices, called tongue display units, do not bestow the gift of sight. What they can do is help the blind experience the world around them in a much more profound way than has previously been possible.

"You are not going to recover vision, but we can substitute something else for it," he said. "If you don't have eyes, you can't see ... But what's nice is that they can feel the world through their tongues, and they can feel it at a distance. For them, it's something that is really incredible."

In laboratories in Montreal and Copenhagen, test subjects born without sight have been making remarkable progress in sensing their way. Tiny cameras perched on eyeglasses or helmets translate images into tingling sensations, not unlike morse code.

Prof. Ptito describes the feeling as comparable to champagne bubbles.

The tongue can be trained to glean information from the electrical impulses it transmits to the brain, distinguishing the difference between a triangle and a square for example, or even the letter T.

Because the tongue is a wet milieu -- and one of the most sensitive organs in the human body --it is the perfect conduit.

Subjects are being tested to perceive black geometric shapes on a white background. Black is indicated by a tingling of maximum intensity while white is conveyed by no sensation at all.

'Sight' that tingles
Canadian researchers part of team testing revolutionary technology for the blind: Nationalpost.com
Allison Hanes, National Post
Published: Tuesday, February 06, 2007
They have also been taught a handful of letters from the alphabet allowing them to spell out short words.

Those testing the tongue units have not yet ventured beyond the confines of a lab, but Prof. Ptito said they will soon begin trials outdoors.

The technology is the brainchild of U.S. doctor and scientist Paul Bach-y-Rita, a pioneer in a field called substitution theory, who believed people actually see with their brains, not their eyes.
Daniel-Robert Chebat, the Ph D student who conducted tests on 36 blind subjects in the Montreal lab, said one of the most exciting findings is that the electrical impulses transmitted by the tongue to the brain activate the visual cortex: "We know that this type of information normally should go to the motor cortex and yet it's in the visual cortex ... The question is, are we unmasking old connections that are already there or are we rather creating new ones in the brain?"

Using the technology patented by Dr. Bach-y-Rita's Wisconsin- based company requires considerable training before the test subjects can make sense of all the tiny pops and buzzes on the tongue.

For starters, blind people are commonly taught to stay as still and straight as possible when they use a cane or a guide dog to get around.

"What I tell them is the opposite," Mr. Chebat explained. "Since the subject is wearing this camera on his forehead, as he moves this image changes. He learns to recognize that, as with eyesight ... when we move our eyes or we move our heads, the images changes."

It is often the first time these test subjects learn how to process information on shifting perspective and distance: "One of the obstacles we had was a bar blocking the entire width of the hallway ... And so if you couldn't judge distances very well, there's no way you could have stepped over it," Mr. Chebat said. "I say, 'Look at your feet. Do you see your feet? They're on the tip of your tongue if look down, if you're wearing black shoes. Then if you look up, do you see that bar? Now how long did it take you to make that movement? OK, so how far do you think that bar is from you?' So through trial and error, they learn to judge the distances and how the head movements translate to distances."

After relying his whole life on his hands and fingers to navigate the world, Mr. Ciarciello said using the technology took some getting used to.

The biggest challenge, he said, was rewiring his reactions to make use of new information being supplied to his brain.

"I realized: 'Don't wait until you bump into an object to go around it -- go around it before you bump in to it!' "he said. "When you're not used to seeing things from a distance, it's a whole new ball game."

Blind people's worlds are essentially limited to what is at arm's-length. They take in information -- the placement of objects, the shape of people's faces, writing in braille -- using their hands, or a white cane. The tongue devices have the power to change all that -- expanding their surroundings from the car parked a block away to the mountain on the horizon.

"It's hard to describe to people who take it for granted that they can see," Mr. Ciarciello said. "This opens up a whole other door."

Visit our homepage to watch an exclusive video showing how this technology is helping the blind to "see."
Video clip link: video.canada.com/VideoContent.aspx?14506



© National Post 2007
source link: www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=9f7ef012-b788-404c-8f0c-298807633d51&p=2

[Ms. Kathy]

Source Link: www.albawaba.com/en/countries/UAE/210468

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most international edition of vision-x dubai 2007 opens
Vision-X Dubai, the 8th Optical and Ophthalmic Exhibition and Conference, was officially inaugurated today by H.E. Qadhi Saeed Al Moorshid, Director General - Department of Health & Medical Services.

His Excellency toured the exhibition, which gathers 155 exhibitors from 27 countries.


The enthusiastic opening and registration on the first day reflects the industry’s growing number of specialists and visitors in the region. Vision-X Dubai is unique for its blend of both the fashion and healthcare elements of the Middle East’s optical and ophthalmic industries, providing a major meeting point for different sectors to develop new business opportunities.

On the fashion-side, key brands such as Estee Lauder, French Connection, Pepsi, and Speedo will present the latest collection at the show. Middle East distributor Egma Lens will also display an extended range of the high-end Porsche Design Eyewear collection, developed by Porsche and Rodenstock designers in collaboration.

For medical specialists, the second Vision-X Dubai 2007 Conference will begin tomorrow, examining a number of key eye-health issues. This major conference is set to attract ophthalmologists, optometrists and physicians from across the Middle East to tackle issues relating to eyesight.

The Emirates Mediacal Association Ophthalmic Society (EMAOS), co-organiser of the Vision-X Dubai Conference, believe that the event will provide a vital professional development opportunity.

Dr. Manal Taryam, Specialist – Dubai Hospital and President of EMAOS, explains: “We are bringing together optical experts from across the UAE, as well as specialists from the GCC, Lebanon, UK, Switzerland and India, to tackle some of the key issues relating to eyesight in the region.”

“As well as examining some of the fundamental issues relating to eye health – such as the prevention of disease and the reduction of blindness in the population – we will also be examining some of the advanced measure now available in the surgical field to enhance eyesight,” she added.

Among the speakers at the event will be Dr. Thuraya Alhashemi, Consultant – Marfaq Hospital, and President of Right to Sight in the UAE, part of a global initiative of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB) which aims to eliminate avoidable blindness worldwide by the year 2020.

The Vision-X 2007 Conference will offer a subspecialty session in refractive surgery to inform and educate doctors and eye care providers about the latest developments in this area.

Participants in the program will be accredited with Continuing Medical Education (CME) credits by the Department of Health and Medical Services (DoHMS).
---
Vision-X Dubai will be held in Hall 5 and 6 of the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre (DICEC) from 6 - 8 March 2007. The Vision-X Dubai Conference, organised by Emirates Medical Association Ophthalmic Society (EMAOS) will be held on 7 - 8 March 2007.


About Vision-X Dubai 2007 www.vision-x.ae

Vision-X Dubai 2007 is the 8th Optical & Ophthalmic Exhibition and Conference. It is the largest regional exhibition for the latest in eyewear, optical aids and accessories in an exciting and dynamic market.

The trade and specialist exhibition is a cost-effective way to maintain and expand your market share and the ideal platform to launch new products and services.

The Vision-X Dubai conference, organised by EMAOS, will be held alongside the exhibition. This is your chance to hear from key speakers, be involved in discussions and network with industry experts.


About Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) www.dwtc.com

As the organiser of Vision-X Dubai 2007, Dubai World Trade Centre offers over 27 years’ experience of delivering world-class events in the Middle East, providing local, regional and international exhibitors with unmatched expertise and in-depth market knowledge. Our team organises 15 of the largest and most successful international and regional shows in Middle East, providing an ideal platform for business development in the region.

Our commitment to ongoing innovation within the exhibition industry has supported the rapid growth and development of a wide range of business-to-business and business-to-consumer shows, and delivered consistent satisfaction to exhibitors and visitors. DWTC works with the leading trade bodies and industry associations to ensure that all exhibitions deliver full value and are built upon the real needs of their specific sector.




Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)

[Ms. Kathy]

Transport interrupted -- Texas A&M biologists trace cause of early blindness to tissue defect
Source Link: www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2007-03/tau-tit030707.php
COLLEGE STATION -- Researchers at Texas A&M University are shedding light on a rare form of early blindness, identifying the cells involved and paving the way for possible therapies to treat or even prevent what is currently an incurable disease.

The findings, funded by Fight for Sight and the National Institutes of Health, are published in the March 5-9 online Early Edition (EE) of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Since his post-doctoral days at Harvard University, Texas A&M biologist Dr. Brian Perkins has been studying protein transport within photoreceptors—the rod and cone cells that allow organisms to detect their visual worlds—in zebrafish, a vertebrate whose eye physiology is essentially identical to that of a human. Recently he became intrigued by a 30-year-old debate involving photoreceptor death—specifically, whether it was a cause or an effect—in choroideremia, an X chromosome-linked hereditary retinal degenerative disease that leads to blindness in an estimated one in every 100,000 people, beginning with severe loss of vision and night blindness as early as the pre-teen years and progressing to complete blindness by middle age.

Using a line of mutant zebrafish developed by Rockefeller University’s Jim Hudspeth, Perkins and Texas A&M biology graduate student Bryan Krock zeroed in on a specific protein, the Rab escort protein-1 (REP1), which helps regulate intracellular traffic in the photoreceptors as well as a neighboring tissue called the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE). In collaboration with the University of Western Kentucky’s Joseph Bilotta, they observed that mutations in REP1 disrupt cellular processes in the RPE, causing photoreceptor death as a secondary consequence. Their results suggest therapies that correct the RPE may successfully rescue photoreceptor loss in choroideremia and even reverse the disease.

"For decades, no one knew if the photoreceptors were dying because of an internal trafficking defect or if they were dying as a secondary consequence of problems in the RPE," Perkins explains. "Previous research based on studies of human tissue said it was independent of the RPE. We wanted to see if that hypothesis was true. It turns out that it wasn’t, but in making the wrong assumption, we found out something even more interesting—a different way to cause photoreceptor death."

"If you disrupt protein transport, you kill the cell," Perkins notes. "In this case, the transportation process in the photoreceptors was perfectly normal, but the neighboring RPE was defective, which is why the photoreceptors were dying."

"For this particular disease, we now have the reason why people go blind. If our results translate into treating humans, it should lead to design of potential therapies. But at the very least, it helped settle the controversy of why photoreceptors are failing and why people go blind. Knowing the right cell type to target is half the battle, and we’re saying it’s the RPE, not the photoreceptor, and that the functional gene can potentially be added back to the RPE using gene therapy."

In addition to being small, relatively inexpensive and suitable for large-scale genetic experiments, zebrafish make ideal research specimens in Perkins’ eyes because they are model systems, both for treating human disease and for determining what’s important.

"Most people think of mice, monkeys and other furry animals, rather than fish, when they think of research subjects for human diseases," Perkins says. "An advantage of zebrafish is the ability to inexpensively perform forward genetic screens. Using chemicals, we can induce random mutations throughout the genome. We then search through dozens of zebrafish families to identify mutant zebrafish with traits that resemble human diseases. We use the screen to look for specific traits we think are important, but we can’t pre-select the gene that caused it."

"Rather than starting with a gene to mutate and hoping to generate a given trait, we select for the trait, then go find the mutated gene that caused it. We let nature and the organism tell us what’s important and what’s not."

Perkins says the next steps for his laboratory involve continuing investigation into protein transport processes and trying to find additional zebrafish models of photoreceptor-specific mutations that lead to additional causes of retinal degeneration and blindness.

###
To learn more about Perkins’ research, go to www.bio.tamu.edu/FACMENU/FACULTY/perkins.htm.

To read the complete paper, entitled "Non-Cell Autonomous Photoreceptor Degeneration in a Zebrafish Model of Choroideremia," or about other current research covered in PNAS, go to www.pnas.org/cgi/content/abstract/0605818104v1.
Contact: Shana K. Hutchins
[e-mail]
979-862-1237
Texas A&M University

[Ms. Kathy]

March 08, 2007 08:00 AM Eastern Time
Enhanced Vision Celebrates 10th Anniversary with Product Upgrades and Life-Changing Stories at Technology & Persons with Disabilities Conference, March 19-24
Vision to Go: Enhanced Vision Helps People with Low Vision to “See” Again

Source Link: home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?

2007 Technology & Persons with Disabilities Conference
HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--To celebrate a decade of developing innovative solutions for people with low vision, Enhanced Vision is commemorating its 10th anniversary by adding two new upgrades that will expand their product portfolio of low vision aids. The products will be unveiled at the 2007 Technology & Persons with Disabilities Conference, March 19-24 in Los Angeles, where Enhanced Vision will also host several individuals whose lives have been dramatically changed with the help of their low vision devices.

The Technology & Persons with Disabilities Conference, sponsored by Cal State Northridge’s Center on Disabilities, is the largest conference of its kind in the nation. At the conference, Enhanced Vision will be unveiling the new Acrobat LCD, the latest addition to the Acrobat family of video magnifiers. They also will introduce a new battery-operated USB device that allows low vision products to be easily connected to a laptop computer without using the laptop battery, giving low vision users maximum usage.

The Acrobat family of video magnifiers enables people with low vision to perform daily tasks more effectively. The Acrobat LCD incorporates a 17” LCD and versatile arm that enables the user to see objects up close, at a distance and anywhere in between. The system folds into a compact package that can be carried in a backpack.

At the conference, Enhanced Vision will also host several individuals who have overcome the odds to succeed in life and continue to pursue their dreams despite their vision impairment:

Allan Bailey - a 17-yr.-old student and violinist who has suffered from optic atrophy since birth, who is currently in the final round of auditions for acceptance into the prestigious Juilliard music school;


George Mendoza - an accomplished acrylic and oil painter, motivational speaker, author and former long-distance runner who continues to paint despite suffering from macular degeneration; and


Kyle Bergum - a manager at Microsoft Corporation who suffers from ocular albinism, and who credits his professional and personal success to the Enhanced Vision products that he uses on a daily basis.


Approximately 3.3 million Americans, or one out of four over the age of 65, suffer from low vision, according to a study sponsored by the National Eye Institute. While very few people are aware that products exist to help people with low vision regain their independence, Enhanced Vision is working to heighten the public’s awareness of this issue.

“We continue to be inspired by the life-changing stories that end-users have shared with us over the past decade,” said Nicole Hollinger of Enhanced Vision. “While there currently is no cure for people with low vision, there are devices which provide alternative solutions to help people regain their independence and live life as they have always known it. In observance of our tenth anniversary, we will be doing our part throughout 2007 to let people know that help for a low vision patient is available, through educational programs in cities throughout the U.S., and by sharing inspiring stories of people like Allan Bailey, George Mendoza and Kyle Bergum.”

For more information about the Acrobat family and other Enhanced Vision products, please call 888-811-3161 or visit www.enhancedvision.com.

About Enhanced Vision

Enhanced Vision is the leading developer of innovative products designed specifically for people who are legally blind and have macular degeneration and other low vision conditions. The company has helped thousands of people regain their visual independence by providing the ability to read, write, watch TV, enjoy a play and live again. Headquartered in Huntington Beach, Calif., Enhanced Vision products are available in more than 70 countries worldwide. For more information, please call 888-811-3161 or visit www.enhancedvision.com.

Contacts
Scott Public Relations
Anna Newcombe, 818-610-0270, x17
[e-mail]

[Ms. Kathy]

Government Technology

Web Site Launched to Help People with Vision Loss Maintain Independence
Source Link: www.govtech.net/magazine/channel_story.php/104753
By News Release
Apr 03, 2007
To help families, caregivers and people directly affected by vision loss, the American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) launched a new, totally accessible, multi-media Web site today that offers instructional videos, easy-to-implement tips and testimonials to help this country's growing low vision population maintain independence. The launch of AFB Senior Site comes amid concerns from health officials that diseases like age-related macular degeneration, glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy are expected to double as the nation's 78 million baby boomers reach retirement age and beyond.

In conjunction with the launch of its Web site, AFB released the results of a national opinion poll that details people's fears about vision loss:
Losing one's sight and paralysis top the list of the public's health fears that were tested. Most feared are losing one's sight (21 percent) and paralysis (21 percent), followed by HIV/AIDS (16 percent), cancer (14 percent), stroke (11 percent), heart attacks/disease (6 percent), diabetes (4 percent) and deafness (3 percent). The other 4 percent don't know;
Americans say their biggest concerns about low vision are losing the ability to live independently (75 percent) and read (68 percent);
After physicians (56 percent), Americans would turn to Web sites (29 percent) and organizations for the blind (20 percent) for information on blindness and severe vision loss.
"Over the next few decades, rates of age-related vision loss in this country are expected to double as our country's population ages. Given how much fear people have concerning the impact of vision loss, AFB hopes our new Web site will enlighten Americans about ways they or a loved one can adapt successfully to low vision or vision loss and maintain a full, rewarding and independent life," said AFB President and CEO Carl R. Augusto.

Currently, 6.5 million Americans over the age of 65 have severe vision loss. While some are adapting successfully, there are many others who don't know where to turn for help, or even if such help exists. AFB's Web site is meant to address this knowledge gap.

Visitors to AFB Senior Site will find instructional videos and articles describing independent living solutions geared specifically to people with age-related vision loss. The Web site also connects seniors and their families to important resources in their own communities, such as vision loss specialists who can recommend solutions and instruct older adults with vision loss.

"There are many services and devices available today that help seniors reduce the impact of a visual impairment. AFB Senior Site encourages visually impaired seniors to find the help and support that they need to live independently," said Randy Jose, O.D., FAAO, of the American Academy of Optometry.

[Ms. Kathy]

David--former student-- sent this one to me:

>>> "David Faucheux" 04/16/07 10:04 AM >>>
*************************
Software that can be taught to
refine the information sent from a
bionic eye to its wearer is being
trialled in Germany. Rolf Eckmiller,
a computer scientist at Bonn
University, says the secret to
improving these implants is to match
the signals they produce with the
signals that a healthy eye sends to
the brain. In their system, a...
www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=6676&m=26263
David's Blog Line: www.teleread.org/blind

[Ms. Kathy]

Study: Playing Video Games Improves Eyesight

By LiveScience Staff
Source Link: www.livescience.com/humanbiology/070315_video_vision.html
posted: 15 March 2007
05:03 pm ET

Playing "Gears of War," "Lost Planet," "Halo" and other action video games that involve firing guns can improve your eyesight, new research claims.

Sedate games like "Tetris" don't work.

A group of 10 male college students who started out as non-gamers and then received 30 hours of training on first-person action video games showed a substantial increase in their ability to see objects accurately in a cluttered space, compared to 10 non-gamers given the same test, said Daphne Bevelier of the University of Rochester.

Video: Attention Training and Experimental Video Games
www.livescience.com/php/video/player.php?video_id=attentiontraining

Most aspects of vision have to do with the size of one's eye and the thickness and shape of the cornea and lens. But some visual defects are neural in nature, said Bevelier, author of the new study on vision and video games published in the journal Psychological Science.

First-person action games helped study subjects improve their spatial resolution, meaning their ability to clearly see small, closely packed together objects, such as letters, she said. Game-playing actually changes the way our brains process visual information.

"These games push the human visual system to the limits and the brain adapts to it," she said, in a prepared statement. "That learning carries over into other activities and possibly everyday life."

The finding suggests that playing first-person action video games could be a useful rehabilitation therapy for people with certain vision problems, she said, such as amblyopia (or lazy eye) and the simple effects of aging.

Another study has showed that playing certain virtual reality games that involved physical motion helped stroke victims improve their ability to walk eventually.

---

Today I found another article on the same subject but for a particular condition.

Video Games may help combat 'lazy eye' condition
Posted by: Darren Clark at March 28, 2006 2:08:38 PM


The condition amblyopia, more commonly known as 'lazy eye', may be helped by playing virtual reality video games. Researchers from Nottingham University, UK have found that employing this modern technological technique rather than the traditional static image re-training could reduce the time taken for effectiveness from 400 to 1 hour.

Amblyopia is caused by one of the person's eyes being better at visual processing and the person's brain favouring their good eye over the other one.

Traditional techniques for rectifying the condition involve a person covering their good eye and using the other one to view things. The technique usually takes around 400 hours to complete, with the patient using a patch to cover the good eye, but can leave problems with eyes not working together, causing double-vision.

The new technique developed by the university team uses virtual reality video games to try and rectify the amblyopia. In one experiment, patients are made to play a racing game where their car is broadcasted into the amlyopic eye and the other cars are shown in the good eye. Obstacles on the track are sent alternatively to each eye.

Although the technique is as yet unproven, Dr Richard Eastgate from the university's Virtual Reality Applications Research Team (VRART) says that early results seem favourable, "We thought we'd develop a system that needed about 400 hours of treatment like patching. In the end we achieved the same effect in an hour."

The full story can be read on the BBC NEWS website, which also has links to the relevant pages for the VRART's technique.

Source Link: Video Games may help combat 'lazy eye' condition - GameDev.Net Discussion Forums www.gamedev.net/community/forums/topic.asp?topic_id=383895

---

Here's still another link from University of Rochester Press Releases www.cc.rochester.edu/news/show.php?id=2764

[Ms. Kathy]

The Rise of Bionic Eyes

By Phil Berardelli, ScienceNOW Daily News, 24 April 2007.

The trick to restoring vision in people blinded by injury
or disease may be to bypass the eyes entirely. By
establishing a connection between a video device and
the part of the brain that receives visual stimuli,
researchers have shown that the brain can interpret
electronic signals in the same way it interprets light
waves.

For years, scientists have tried with limited success to
provide sight to the blind via prosthetic devices. One
approach is to stimulate the remaining healthy neurons
in the retina, the light-sensitive lining of the inside
of the eyeball, with miniature electrodes that mimic the
effects of incoming light. But retinal tissue is so
fragile that it is easily damaged. Another tactic
involves inserting microelectrodes into the primary
visual cortex - the main part of the brain responsible for
processing visual signals - and stimulating visual nerve
cells with electrical impulses. So far, however, no one
has been able to achieve more than simple behavioral
responses in test animals because of the complexity of
that cerebral area and the nature of visual signals.

A team from Harvard Medical School has tried a new
approach. Reporting online this week in Proceedings of
the National Academy of Sciences, the researchers
describe how they got lab animals to track preselected
artificial visual signals with their eyes - just as though
they were watching lights flashing on a real video
screen - by precisely inserting two minute electrodes into
the lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) of the thalamus.
This part of the brain acts like a relay station for
visual information. All signals from the eyes run through
the LGN to the visual cortex. The experiment used sighted
monkeys so the researchers could compare their responses
to real images with artificial signals, says
neuroscientist and co-author John Pezaris. Although the
team only used two electrodes as proof of concept, he
says, the monkeys followed both the real and artificial
signals in exactly the same way.

If further animal research is successful, Pezaris says
his team hopes to move on to work with human volunteers,
using implants containing more and more electrodes to
transmit visual signals of increasing complexity.
Eventually, the procedure could lead to a full-fledged
artificial vision system comprising twin digital video
cameras worn as a pair of glasses that transmits signals
wirelessly to an implanted neural stimulator, which in
turn connects to micro-electrodes planted in the brain.

The research represents "a fundamental advance toward a
visual prosthesis," says neurobiologist Nicholas
Hatsopoulos of the University of Chicago in Illinois. For
one thing, he says, the thalamus is easier to stimulate
than the retina and is much less prone to tissue damage.
Furthermore, current neurosurgical procedures, such as
those used to treat diseases such as Parkinson's, "could
be modified relatively easily to stimulate the thalamus."

Source URL:
sciencenow.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/2007/424/2

[Ms. Kathy]

A Japanese company that's developed a device to help the
visually impaired is seeking up to $3 million in capital,
some of which would go toward setting up operations in
Minnesota.

EyePlusPlus Inc., based in Tokyo, created a product that
uses a camera and electrodes attached to a headband to
mimic the retina. The camera, mounted on sunglasses,
captures objects' shape. The headband electrodes then
pulse in a pattern following the outline of the object,
allowing the blind to "see" shapes through forehead
stimulation.

The firm is hoping to have the device approved by the
U.S. Food and Drug Administration by August. Students
at the Academy for the Blind in Faribault have tested
it. If the company receives its desired funding, it
would like to set up a testing facility and possibly
manufacture the device in Minnesota, said President
Yonezo Kanno.

Source URL:
milwaukee.bizjournals.com/milwaukee/othercities/twincities/stories/2007/04/30/newscolumn2.html?b=1177905600^1454131

[Ms. Kathy]

What It's Like To Be A Bat:
Seeing With Sound Via Sensory Substitution.

Category: Cognitive Neuroscience.
Posted on: May 3, 2007 3:49 PM, by Chris Chatham.

In his famous essay, Thomas Nagel suggested that
science's reductionist methods can never provide a
complete understanding of the "subjective qualities" of
consciousness. To illustrate this problem, he wrote that
there was "no reason to suppose that" we would ever be
able to comprehend what it's like to be a bat - because
we can't truly understand the subjective experience of,
for example, echolocation.

Ironically, scientific advances in "sensory substitution"
technology have demonstrated that it's possible to
simulate (or stimulate) one modality (sight, hearing,
touch) with sensory data from another. In one such
system, a camera translates optical information into weak
electrical pulses, which are then applied to the tongue
(which is an ideal interface for sensory substitution due
to its high sensitivity and large representation in the
cortex). Users of this technology report the subjective
experience of actually seeing with their tongue, if you
can imagine that (note that Thomas Nagel would suggest
you can't).

New research by Auvray et al demonstrates how a different
sensory substitution system - "the vOICe" - provides
people with the ability to see through sound waves,
without the limitations inherent to electrical
stimulation of the tongue (which includes irritation,
pain, and large energy requirements).

Auditory sensory substitution systems like vOICe have
several additional advantages:

1) the auditory system is exquisitely and simultaneously
sensitive to multiple dimensions of sound (frequency,
amplitude, harmony, rhythm, spectral, left/right onset
time and to a lesser extent left/right phase differences)

2) audition seems to have natural relationships with
spatial processing. For example, human subjects are
faster to respond to an upper location if a high-pitched
sound is played simultaneously, and are conversely faster
to respond to a lower location if a low-pitched sound is
played, as opposed to the opposite mapping.

3) the temporal resolution of sonic information can be
easily increased or decreased, which can be used to
improve its correspondence with the increased resolution
of human vision at the center of the field of vision. In
contrast, electrode grids are currently subject to
spatial limitations due to the need to reduce
interference among electrodes.

There's clear appeal to the use of such a system (both as
a prosthesis for the blind, as well as the potential of
providing soldiers with 360 degree vision), but many
unanswered questions remain. For example, it's still not
clear exactly how these systems interface with the brain,
and which visual pathways do they utilize?

The human brain appears to have developed two distinct
visual routes - one for more semantic or "object
recognition" purposes (the ventral pathway) and another
for more spatial or action-oriented purposes (the dorsal
pathway).

To investigate whether visual sensory substitution with
audition uses one or both of these visual streams, Auvrey
et al. trained 6 sighted on the use of the vOICe system,
which works by sampling once per second the 32 degrees of
the visual field in greyscale with 174 x 64 resolution,
and converting it into frequencies spanning 500 to 5000
Hz. The loudness of sounds corresponds to a pixel's
brightness, and the frequency of sounds corresponds to a
pixel's vertical position. The visual field is scanned in
columns, with the frequency distribution at any given
moment in time representing a single column of visual
pixels. So, to provide an example, two parallel lines
each running horizontally would sound like two sine waves
of different frequencies superimposed on one another for
a period of time, whereas a single dot would sound more
like a "beep."

Cameras were wielded by the blindfolded subjects as they
were trained for 3 hours on how to localize a visual
target in a high contrast environment, and track that
target as it moved. In a first experiment, subjects were
asked to point at a black target 1 meter away, to
approach it and then to touch the target.

Amazingly, subjects were always able to correctly point
at the target, but depth perception seemed to be a
particularly hard skill: when the rather small targets
(11x11 cm) were "far" away (60 cm) subjects took
significantly longer to point at it. However, by the end
of the 2 hour session, subjects had nearly halved their
reaction times on the task, suggesting that significant
learning was still taking place.

A second experiment showed that subjects were still able
to localize even a smaller target (a 4cm sphere) as
displaced in depth from them, but that more errors were
made the farther away this object was placed. Unlike the
previous experiment, performance across this 2 hour
session did not improve.

A third experiment demonstrated that after 1 hour
training with 10 different objects (e.g., a plant, a
shoe, a book, etc), subjects were generally able to
correctly recognize objects after 1 minute of exposure,
and that performance improved over the course of the 3
hour testing session. As in the first experiment,
subjects eventually halved their recognition reaction
time. Interestingly, one of the subjects was a musician,
and was able to recognize objects significantly faster
than the others. Again, this suggests that the benefits
of training were not fully realized with the short
training periods provided here..

A fourth experiment showed that subjects were also able
to perform subordinate judgements on each category of
object - that is after 1 hour of training, subjects could
discriminate between two different exemplars of 7
different object categories (e.g., two examples of shoes,
two examples of plants, two handbags, etc) at a level
significantly above chance.

This research demonstrates a "proof of concept" for
general-purpose visual sensory substitution with
audition. Even with relatively small amounts of training,
subjects were able to use sound to locate and identify
objects by their visual characteristics in 3-dimensions.
In most cases, training had remarkable benefits, and the
learning curves may be far from linear: proficiency with
this system could conceivably increase exponentially with
additional practice.

On the other hand, there's substantial room for
improvement: the reaction times were so long as to make
this system practically useless for most applications,
and there's a long way to go until vOICe is ready for
real-world distances and lighting conditions. The
sophistication of vOICe's auditory encoding needs to
increase in almost every possible way before this will be
ready for the real-world. But the proof is there - its
clearly possible to substitute one sensory modality with
information from another, even with a relatively crude
apparatus and minimal training.

Did these subjects learn what it's like to be a bat?
Almost certainly not, but they may be nonetheless closer
to such an understanding than many predicted would ever
be possible - including Thomas Nagel. As this and other
neurotechnology becomes more developed, it will no doubt
continue to inform our understandings of consciousness,
embodiment, sensory immersion, and the subjective nature
of experience.

Source URL:
scienceblogs.com/developingintelligence/2007/05/seeing_with_sound_sensory_subs.php

[Ms. Kathy]

(Image:Eye-Theatre; Credit: www.eye-theatre.com Click to see picture: www.trendygadget.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/05/eye-theatre-2.jpg)

More Entertainment ? Eye Theatre. It’s not sun glasses but video glasses. In your sight, you may never have heard this video goggles, i’m sure hadn’t , the first impressions are reasonable. Wearing these video glasses is like seeing the movie just right in your eyes. This is suitable for all video out connector such as the iPod with video, DVD players or game consoles. Their resolution is optimized for use with your iPod, just wear them like normal goggles and plug-in the earphones then it must be works..Another features is very lightweight and comfy to use. Adjustment is limited to the three different rubber nose, thats depend on you. Picture quality is average and with resolution at 320×240 pixels. While you wearing them, I’m not recommend you walking down the street. wear them at your own risk! [via http://www.eye-theatre.com]
Source Link: Eye Theatre (Video Goggles) | TRENDY GADGET www.trendygadget.com/2007/05/07/eye-theatre-video-goggles/

[Ms. Kathy]

Technology Monitor. Visual implants.

Seeing the light.

May 8th 2007. From Economist.com.

An electronic device restores some vision to the blind.

These days, using silicon chips to allow machines to see is commonplace. So why not use them to restore sight to the blind?That is the reasoning behind a study being carried out in the eye hospitals of Tübingen and Regensburg universities, in Germany. The study, led by Eberhart Zrenner, has implanted chips into the eyes of seven people who have lost their sight to a disease
called retinitis pigmentosa.

Retinitis pigmentosa is an inherited disorder that accounts for 11% of cases of blindness and has no medical treatment. It gradually destroys the rods and cones that detect light in the retina of the eye. However, it does not harm the optic nerve, which transmits electrical impulses from the retina to the brain. Feed appropriate signals to this nerve, Dr Zrenner reasoned, and the brain would be able to see again.

The chip that does this was designed by a firm called Retina Implant. Its researchers used technology found in digital cameras - photodiodes that generate an electrical signal when light strikes them. By putting 1,540 such sensors on a chip that can be implanted over the retina, the company has created a device that can build up an image that has 1,540 pixels. Each diode stimulates the nerve cells that have their endings in the retina (unlike the photoreceptors, these cells are unharmed by retinitis pigmentosa), and the nerve cells in question then relay the individual signals to the brain via the optic nerve. The power to drive all this comes through a cable that is connected to a small battery slung around the patient's neck, though Retina Implant intends to deliver power to a production version by electrical induction. That would not require anything to penetrate the skin.

The seven volunteers spent a month with the implants and reported being able to distinguish between dark walls and a light window, and a dark table and white plates. The picture generated by the device was coarse compared with normal vision because of the small number of pixels it contained (a healthy eye has 120m rods, which produce the bulk of the image, and 6m cones, which add colour to it). Neither did the patients see fully in colour, although they reported being able to distinguish white, grey and yellow tones. Nevertheless, enough sight was restored to make a difference to each of the volunteers' lives.

The researchers now want to repeat the experiment and keep the implants in place for at least a year. (Their original research licence was limited to four weeks.) They hope this will be long enough for their patients' brains to learn how to interpret the images more accurately than they now can. Later versions of the
devices will also have more pixels, so the images should be better. As to cost, Walter Wrobel, the boss of Retina Implants, reckons about 25,000 euros ($35,000). That is less than the bill for training a guide dog - and the implants will not require feeding.

Source URL:
www.economist.com/displaystory.cfm?story_id=9139355

[Ms. Kathy]

Davis Man Chronicles Regaining His Sight. Was Blind for 43 Years.
Source Link: abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=local&id=5354142



By Carolyn Tyler.

May 30 - KGO - We have an update for you on an amazing story about a
Northern California man who regained his sight after four decades. Mike
May is still learning to see. We first met him seven years ago after he
first got his vision back and now, that his sight has returned, his
brain is still learning to process what he is seeing.

His case is said to be unique. Mike may was blind for 43 years; the
result of a chemical explosion that burned his eyes when he was a little
boy. Revolutionary stem cell surgery restored his sight.

We visited him at his home in Davis right after the bandages came off in
march 2000. He says it was overwhelming, frightening, exciting.

Mike May, Formerly Blind; "This barrage of stuff. I can't close my eyes
because I don't want to miss anything, but I have to close them because
I'm getting tired of processing."

Mike's vision is now 20/40. So why does he still use a guide dog? It's
because what he can perceive makes his vision more like 20/1000.

Dr. Alex Wade, Vision Scientist: "The brain is the bottleneck. imagine
taking a piece of delicate machinery and just putting it in the dark for
40 years and then taking it out. Is it still going to work?"

Dr. Alex Wade is a scientist who has studied Mike May extensively over
the years conducting MRI's to scan his brain and visual response.

Dr. Alex Wade: "Some parts had stayed the way they were when the lights
went out 40 years ago, and some parts had become not very good at all."

May can't see faces or details, but still his world has opened up.

Mike May: "I can see colors. I can also run and catch a ball in the
air."

Even when he was blind, May threw himself into life full tilt. He's a
married father of two, a world champion skier; he even once worked for
the CIA.

Now he's a 56-year-old entrepreneur who has developed a GPS system for
the blind. May is crashing through, the title of a new book about his
amazing story.

Mike May: "It's a lot of my message in there which is there's always a
way whatever you confront in life, there's always a way to do it."

Mike May's book tour takes him to the Book passage bookstore in Corte
Madera tomorrow at 7pm.

[I have emailed the author of this story with some questions about this procedure, especially concerning physical and psychological prerequisites o the receipients. When I ear something, I will print it here.}

[Ms. Kathy]

...

On medicine's far frontier, TI is collaborating with scientists at the
University of Southern California and a startup called Second Sight Inc.
to mitigate disease-related blindness. They have created a retinal implant
that translates camera images into neural impulses that a blind person
perceives as dark and light patches. Over time, patients learn to
interpret these patterns as objects, giving them some ability to navigate
by sight, if not actually to see.

The team has tested its retinal system, the Argus 16, on six subjects.
One of them is Terry Byland, who has been blind for 14 years. Since
receiving the Argus in 2004, his vision has improved steadily as his
brain progressively adapts to the digital images it receives via a TI
microprocessor from a video camera that sits on his glasses. Byland
has an 18-year-old son, whom he hasn't seen since the boy was 5.
"Now I can see his shadow moving in front of me," he says.

...

Source URL:
www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_36/b4048061.htm?chan=top+news_top+news+index_technology