PENSACOLA, Florida: The tongue could be a key organ of the super warrior of the future, feel military researchers. Scientists at the Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition, who are in an attempt to create the soldiers of tomorrow, hope to provide them with 360-degree unobstructed vision at night and allow Navy SEALs to sense through sonar fitted on their heads while maintaining normal vision under water.
These soldiers will have superhuman senses as signals from helmet-mounted cameras, sonar and other equipment will be routed through their tongues to the brain.
Ken Ford, the institute's head, is not sure whether the human brain can process such stimuli, though it is a fact that animals' brains can. Ford and his scientists work on "human-centered computing" -- fitting technology to people to make machines more user-friendly.
Dr Anil Raj, who is the project's lead scientist, hopes to incorporate Sonar into the senses of Navy SEALs -- the U.S. Navy's premier special operations force specializing in basic underwater demolition and sea, air or land (SEAL) operations -- , much like dolphins or whales.
The device was originally developed as "Brain Port," more than 30 years ago by Dr Paul Bach-y-Rita, a neuroscientist at the University of Wisconsin. He first routed images from a camera through electrodes taped to people's backs. He later found that human tongue was a superior transmitter.
During tests, the device has helped blind people to find doorways, notice people walking in front of them and even catch balls. A version of the device is also known to have restored balance to those with damaged vestibular system of their ears.
Raj has carried out research using Navy divers. A narrow strip of red plastic from the Brain Port is connected to the diver's tongue, where some 144 microelectrodes transmit information through nerve fibers to the brain. It was established during the tests that the divers could process information through their tongues instead of looking at compasses and other bulky devices.
Raj explained the whole objective is to keep the Navy divers' hands and eyes free. As the eyes will be freed, they will be able to do what they really want to -- may be look for mines and see shapes that are coming out of the muck.
He wants the sonar to be a compact device that can be mounted on a helmet.
Raj and his team plan to demonstrate the system to Navy and Marine divers in May.
The research has funding from the department of defense's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.
Michael Zinszer, a veteran Navy diver and director of Florida State University's Underwater Crime Scene Investigation School, participated in the testing of the device. He went into the water fitted with the device and in search of a small object. "You are feeling the outline of this image. I was in the pool, they were directing me to a very small object and I was able to locate everything very easily," he said.
