Scientists Probe the Use of the Tongue

An anonymous reader writes "Yahoo! News is reporting that in the military's continuing search for better sensory input they have started looking at the tongue as a 'superior transmitter'. From the article: 'A narrow strip of red plastic connects the Brain Port to the tongue where 144 microelectrodes transmit information through nerve fibers to the brain. Instead of holding and looking at compasses and bluky-hand-held sonar devices, the divers can processes the information through their tongues, said Dr. Anil Raj, the project's lead scientist.'"

Obl. humor troll

[ginbot462]

Tag: Jokefodder

Re:Obl. humor troll

[ettlz]

One I heard on a TV show:

The Best Ever Chat-Up Line.
"Hello, I've got a ten-inch tongue and can breathe through my ears."

porn support

[randyflood]

I imagine this will catch on since if it will work for interactive Porn...

Re:Obl. humor troll

[cayenne8]

Trouble is...the first models are big and bulky, they're testing them out with Gene Simmons at this time.

Miniturization for 2nd and 3rd generation models should prove more comfy for the normal sized tongue...

Flavors?

[bluelip]

With extended use, this thing better have some nice flavors available to combat my gag reflex. I suppose one could get used to having something in their mouth constantly, but so far I've only grown accustomed to pen caps.

Re:Flavors?

[MindStalker]

Apparently this is being used with the NAVY. Who are already used to having something in their mouth.. Seriously thats what the article in my local paper said.. // It actually said NAVY Seals, and was refering to their diving equipment having an additional tongue sensor thingy. But its still funny.

Re:Flavors?

[gstoddart]

Apparently this is being used with the NAVY. Who are already used to having something in their mouth.. Seriously thats what the article in my local paper said.. // It actually said NAVY Seals, and was refering to their diving equipment having an additional tongue sensor thingy. But its still funny.

I'm not sure how much teasing of SEALs I'd do.

SEALs are like Ninjas ...

SEALs can kill anyone they want! SEALs cut off heads ALL the time and don't even think twice about it. These guys are so crazy and awesome t

Re:Flavors?

[MindStalker]

Well the tech like any other should get get small enough it could be a small as a sticker on the tounge. Ihe top of the mouth is sensitive as well and could possible be used instead if nessessary.

Re:Flavors?

[mustafap]

>I suppose one could get used to having something in their mouth constantly

Coffee, in my case :o)

Talking?

[wideBlueSkies]

You know, what I'm wondering about is this...forget about what this thing tastes like....

What happens when you have the probe on your tounge, and your helmet radar shows you 50 unfriendlies heading your way, and you need to spit out (pun intended) the information to your buddies.... but if you take the probe off the tounge you lose the radar...but if you leave it on you can't communicate what you're 'seeing'.

What's the workaround?

That's the career for me

[aqfire]

Sounds like there's a lot more tongue-probing in science than IT. I'm switching fields.

I'll bet

[iminplaya]

he's a real cunning linguist.

Re:I'll bet

[commodoresloat]

...and a Master of Tung-Fu.

OK, OK, I'm leaving. Sorry about that...

Re:

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Re:I'll bet

[gstoddart]

I hereby volunteer for any future tongue-based research.

ANY? Hmmm ... where'd I put my pasta-maker. I have an hypothesis ... =)

Re:I'll bet

[iminplaya]

30% Overrated

You're right. I should've been more subtle. How 'bout "crafty polyglot"?

Re:I'll bet

[cayenne8]

""A cunning linguist" and a master debater!!!"

Not me, I'm a vagitarian....

Use of the tongue eh?

[irablum]

Well, my wife seems to find uses for my tongue. but she's no scientist.....

Ira

Re:Use of the tongue eh?

[MobileTatsu-NJG]

"Well, my wife seems to find uses for my tongue."

To moisten your lips so you can inflate her?

Re:Use of the tongue eh?

[Anonymous Coward]

why when someone says wife, it never gets a second look. but the minute the word girlfriend comes into play, it gets jumped on.


The word "girlfriend" implies that you are getting some, which is obviously a lie. "Wife" has no such implication.

Re:Use of the tongue eh?

[einexile]

I showed this to my girlfriend and my wife's girlfriend and they both agreed you may be onto something.

Re:Use of the tongue eh?

[mrgeometry]

*kapow*

my head asplode

Re:Use of the tongue eh?

[Profane MuthaFucka]

Yes indeed, where did she acquire the diction friction on the juristiction of miction predilection?

Turns out The Internet...

[Anonymous Coward]

...tastes just like chicken.

Re:Turns out The Internet...

[Stripsurge]

That makes you wonder about a lot of things. You take chicken for example, maybe they couldn't figure out what to make chicken taste like, which is why chicken tastes like everything.

Re:Turns out The Internet...

[stunt_penguin]

And tubgirl- one smell that just won't go away.

Full Metal Palate

[grimsweep]

"We've got incoming bogeys, due vanilla by vanilla-strawberry. And either that was some damn strong cofee this morning, or there's at least twenty of em'!"

Re:Full Metal Palate

[grimsweep]

Make that coffee ...annnnd it apparently wasn't strong enough to help me avoid typos at 1 in the afternoon. :/

Re:Full Metal Palate

[Anonymous Coward]

So now they'll be able to taste victory?

Re:Full Metal Palate

[bwcarty]

Was that a quote from Gunnery Sgt. Gene Simmons?

Usage of the tongue

[bernywork]

Aside from tasting things, there is only one other good use for my tongue, and my girlfriend agrees.

Re:Usage of the tongue

[Gorm the DBA]

Why is your girlfriend so caring about your ability to test 9 volt batteries to see if they're still live?

Re:Usage of the tongue

[Qzukk]

Somebody's gotta do it, and she absolutely refuses to give it a try?

Re:Usage of the tongue

[Woy]

I'm guessing she doesn't like her vibrator to run out midsession. These are the things that make having a geek boyfriend so great.

Re:Usage of the tongue

[utexaspunk]

There's not a vibrator in the world that doesn't use C cells. Sometimes I wonder if vibrators are the only reason C cells are still in existence...

Re:Usage of the tongue

[c_forq]

You can't use your tongue for 1.5 volt batteries! You have to use your mouth! Or at least I haven't figured out how to connect my tongue to both poles without being in danger of swallowing a battery.

Re:Usage of the tongue

[Hogwash McFly]

I'm Gene Simmons, you insensitive clod!

Re:Usage of the tongue

[senatorpjt]

I dunno, but I was testing 9V batteries with my tongue long before I turned 18.

Re:Usage of the tongue

[digitaldc]

Aside from tasting things, there is only one other good use for my tongue, and my girlfriend agrees.

Then why is she always telling you to shut up?

Re:Usage of the tongue

[bernywork]

"Stop talking! Get to work!" counts I guess

Re:Usage of the tongue

[tomzyk]

Come on; this is Slashdot. We tend not to believe any statements that contain the words "my girlfriend", nor care to hear about what you do in your [imaginary] sexual pasttime.

(It should be noted that our position on this subject is ENTIRELY reversed if YOU are also female.)

Who needs you?

[twitter]

there is only one other good use for my tongue, and my girlfriend agrees.

Somehow I doubt that use is scintillating conversation and that's too bad for you. With these strips, she won't need you anymore. Then again, you won't need her either.

I can see it now...

[MarkusQ]

I can see it now:

Diver 1: Should we check out this cave?

Diver 2: Hold back. Something tastes fishy here...

--MarkusQ

Re:I can see it now...

[Anonymous Coward]

More like: Diver 1: would we weck ouw wis wave? Diver 2: wold wack. womewing wastes wishy were...

BA-Dum, CRASH!

[twofidyKidd]

Will you be here all week? And, yes I've tipped my waitress.

Anal Rage

[creysoft]

OK, seriously. If I had a name that could in any way be mispronounced as something like "Anal Rage," I'd seriously consider changing it before attempting to do anything noteworthy.

That said, this is cool tech. I wonder if it could eventually be implemented as a chip implanted in the tongue, communicating wirelessly with a small computer? 15 years from now, instead of our kids getting tongue piercings, they'll all be getting "tongue implants." :P

Re:Anal Rage

[MindStalker]

Well this is an output (comptuter output to your input) technology. Really no use as a controller.

Re:Mod parent troll

[slashflood]

Oh now, I'm getting old.

Tongue Port Scan Probe Brain Meld Unit

[digitaldc]

Something about sticking electronic devices in your mouth that doesn't sit well for hygeine, taste or ergonomics.

Maybe this could be better devised by a handheld computer? Or maybe a nerdy Giraffe [riverbend2000.com]?

Re:Tongue Port Scan Probe Brain Meld Unit

[c_forq]

Maybe this could be better devised by a handheld computer?

Umm did you read TFA, hell did you even read the fucking summary? Right in the summary: Instead of holding and looking at compasses and bluky[sic]-hand-held sonar devices. This is supposed to eliminate holding items and taking the eyes off of the terrain so drivers can drive better and have better awareness of the environment and threats. They already have handheld devices that can do this, they want to move beyond that.

Re:Tongue Port Scan Probe Brain Meld Unit

[quokkapox]

So how do you test 9-volt batteries then, if not with your tongue?

Re:Tongue Port Scan Probe Brain Meld Unit

[petermgreen]

well i presume this will come as part of the breathing regulator unit so i can't imageine hygine will be much more of an issue than it already is.

an ordinary handheld computer probablly won't be much use underwater and i imagine the masks turbulance, any contamination etc will mean that anything with a display would need much bigger text than normal.

we don't need funding for this

[moochfish]

I been probing my girlfriend's tongue for months. And don't worry, the research has been fruitful; I've found many uses for it.

Seeing is believing

[Analogy Man]

This is truly one technology that would require first hand experience to have much comment. If I am receiving some input that registers in the vision centers of my brain how does that interact with my regular vision. Over 38 years of moving about I have managed to coordinate my senses and motor skills. If I had a rear view of some kind in addition to my regular binocular vision how what would that experience be like? Would it make me dizzy?

Re:Seeing is believing

[glueball]

I had the pleasure of trying it about 6 years ago in Dr. Bach-y-Rita's lab. I did not try the tongue--I tried a test rig using a finger. It is totally unlike anything I could imagine. It took about 5 minutes to get the hang of it. I was amazed at how fast I could figure it out.

The nice thing about the tongue is that is is so *fast* in its connection to the brain, unlike the eyes or ears understanding information.

There are so many applications for something like this.

Re:Seeing is believing

[Lord_Dweomer]

I understand the experience might be kind of hard to put into words, but can you possibly try to equate it to something else...or maybe provide an example that we can try at home that might help convey what the extra sensory perception is like?

Re:Seeing is believing

[glueball]

Here's a simile (maybe a metaphore)

When I first heard about it and imagined what it would be like, I thought "huh. A new way to see something"

Remember the first time you typed on a keyboard? It was slow, awkward, and you had to think about it. After a while, you because a faster typist. Less thinking. Then it becomes *part*of*you* and you can type 60 wpm. I type very fast, but I kid-you-not, I could not tell you where the keys are from memory. The keyboard has become part of me.

Describe what it is like (and how) to type fast to a person who has never seen a keyboard.

Now you have an idea of what I am trying to describe with my time trying this device.

Re:Seeing is believing

[gwiner]

To actually experience this, yes, you need to try it. But try this experiment: I'd wager that if you try moving your tounge about your teeth, and really pay attention, you'll notice a surprising amount of detail about their surface: where there are gaps, ridges, smoothed, pitted, etc. When you happen to find a particularly interesting spot, take a look in the mirror at what you've pinpointed with your tounge. You'll be surprised to see how tiny and insignificant the detail is when visually inspected. If you really focus, you can actually visualize what your mouth looks like just from your tounge. This shows you a simple but surprising fact about your tounge: you can perceive increadible detail with it. I could imagine how a sensitive electrode grid could easily simulate images directly on the tounge after trying that experiment. This is quite an amazing idea!

zap branigan

[king-manic]

I Taste.. Danger. Kif bring me the mouth wash.

Owls, snakes, & fish

[dr_dank]

they hope to give elite soldiers superhuman senses similar to owls, snakes and fish

So the SEAL acronym of Sea, Land, and Air will be replaced by Fish, Snakes & Owls?

Look out enemies of America, Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom is coming to your town!

vision

[jbeaupre]

This technology has been around for a while: http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20010901/bob14 .asp [sciencenews.org]

Heh

[Moby Cock]

When the army went East, it left a real bad taste in my mouth.

I love the taste of napalm in the morning

[nihilistcanada]

You know, one time we had a hill bombed, for 12 hours. When it was all over, I walked up. We didn't find one of 'em, not one delicious' dink body. The taste, you know that gasoline taste, the whole hill. Tasted like... victory. Someday this war's gonna end... ....and then I am going to Red Lobster for their all you can eat shrimp feast!

Sorry

[metamatic]

Instead of holding and looking at compasses and bluky-hand-held sonar devices, the divers can processes the information through their tongues, said Dr. Anil Raj, the project's lead scientist.

...a revolutionary technology already being referred to as Anilingus.

Megagastrels

[Doc Ruby]

What about the hirez rig for supertaster [prevention.com]?

MMORPG - Area Map - Bogeys

[martyb]

Besides the obvious military uses, it seems to me that a more popular use would be as an adjunct to MMORPGs (or any other interactive RPG computer game, for that matter). Imagine being able to "see" the bogeys right behind you without having to take your eyes off your current target!

He could not only get willing beta testers, but can you imagine the kind of user-mods/hacks that could be created?! "Only" 144 sensory points? Heck, I just hacked it to provide 1024!

No mention of frungy?

[ENOENT]

How long can it be before scientists realize that the Zoq-Fot-Pik have already perfected the tongueing attack in their struggles against the zebranky.

Re:No mention of frungy?

[erroneus]

...way too obscure!

I 'got it' but I doubt many would...and, it's not particularly funny in any event.

Re:No mention of frungy?

[bckrispi]

Does the guy in the middle ever say anything?

Wouldn't another appendage be better suited?

[Anonymous Coward]

At least for men, I can think of another organ that provides quite possibly the most direct neural route to the brain.....

And you could use it withowt talkinth likth thith!

Re:Wouldn't another appendage be better suited?

[DNSJohn]

Nah, that wont work. Besides, hooking electrodes up to that already gets PETA upset when they do it to tigers and leopards... :->

Re:Wouldn't another appendage be better suited?

[3fiddy]

No, they want it to be -connected- to the brain, not -bypass- the brain...

Re:Wouldn't another appendage be better suited?

[rtaylor]

And you could use it withowt talkinth likth thith!

Depends on whether the device is doing it right or not.

Re:Wouldn't another appendage be better suited?

[Jesus_666]

I predict the development of anti-stealth countermeasures to this: When engaging an enemy you want to feel as sharp and pointy as possible...

French I/O

[AnalystX]

Instead of making a full comment about the French, insert your own humorous/insightful comment. I just know something has to be said about what the French will do with this. They are a big fan of the tongue.

Either i just ate a donut, or we should turn right

[192939495969798999]

This will lead to some interesting Post-Traumatic Stress disorders in the future. Some poor army guy will take one bite of his eggplant parmesan and dive under the table, all, "INCOMING! AAIEE!"

You know what's coming NEXT!!!

[SeattleGameboy]

Tongue PORN! Hmmmmmm.... porn.....

Serious comment

[Clod9]

OK, I don't see any serious comments here. Hasn't anyone here ever dreamed of using your tongue as an I/O device for computing? The article is all about it being a device-to-brain interface, but I think there's a lot going for it as a brain-to-device interface as well. If you could image the real-time position of a person's lips and tongue, I'll be the data rate would be higher than a keyboard, and it would be hands-free and silent as well. Like a good speech interface but without interference problems and

Re:Serious comment

[slashname3]

But if you cough of sneeze you erase and format your systems hard drives. Or worse you launch the missles.

As for the input side of it a cold would lock you out of the system as would any good hot wings.

Some how I don't think they have thought this one all the way through.

Re:Serious comment

[MichaelSmith]

Hasn't anyone here ever dreamed of using your tongue as an I/O device for computing?

In Jeff Noon's novel Vurt [wikipedia.org] the virtual reality device is called a vurt feather. You put it in your mouth and it embedds you in a virtual world. In the book vurt feathers were a kind of addictive drug.

There are better places to use...

[Expert Determination]

...that have more nerve endings per unit area and where people are very sensitive to all kinds of surface stimulation. Of course it would require different models for men and women but that's not such a big deal.

Help for people with NF2?

[Anonymous Coward]

From the article:
In testing, blind people found doorways, noticed people walking in front of them and caught balls. A version of the device, expected to be commercially marketed soon, has restored balance to those whose vestibular systems in the inner ear were destroyed by antibiotics.

As a someone with NF2 (http://nfinc.org/nf2.shtml [nfinc.org]), both of my vestibular organs were destroyed in life-saving operations, so this presents some hope to me.

Navigate with your tongue...

[Aram Fingal]

"Instead of holding and looking at compasses and bluky-hand-held sonar devices, the divers can processes the information through their tongues, said Dr. Anil Raj, the project's lead scientist.'"

Haven't dogs been doing this for thousands of years?

They have to be kidding!

[slashname3]

This does not make a lick of sense.

Re:They have to be kidding!

[IlliniECE]

Hold your tongue!

Re:They have to be kidding!

[ScrewMaster]

Too late ... cat got it already.

Well...

[BluedemonX]

That's ONE way to redefine the expression "that's a sweet ride, dude."

Consulting the driver on unfamiliar terrain...

[bhmcintosh]

"Whaddaya think, Sarge? How's that approach taste to you?"

This is too good

[pile0nades]

An article about the use of the tongue and the quote at the bottom of this slashdot comments page says "Be dirty", LOL!

Mandatory Rolling Stones Link

[fm6]

http://www.slidingzone.de/SLIDINGZONE/stones.html [slidingzone.de]

This is old news.

[herrd0kt0r]

Premiere Scientist John Whorfin of the 8th Dimension has known about this for decades: Here is a photo of him using such technology in the mid 80s [alicia-logic.com]. Find out what she knows! Use more honey!

Mass Media Applications

[Etherwalk]

When they get this working for movies and gaming, it's going to be incredible. Not only manufactured taste, but scent. (I recall they were working on scent detection some years ago at Caltech, and I've seen it mentioned a few places since, I think both on the detection and generation side.) But imagine a gaming experience that can invoke smell...

Of course, they'll probably hesitate to use the technology during war films or movies about skunks. In fact, they'll probably accidentally use it with a movi

In Soviet Russia....

[d474]

...the tongue probes YOU! (for $50)

What a trip

[Joebert]

Years ago someone told me about theese little strips I could put on my tongue that would let me see things in a whole new way, I aint been right ever since...

In other news...

[AirDave]

The U.S. Navy has recruited Gene Simmons, formerly of the band KISS, to join their elite SEAL division. A spokesman says that Mr. Simmons is uniquely qualified for certain data-intensive missions. When contacted at his home in Beverly Hills, Mr. Simmons responded, "Ah cahnth tathk rith nah".

They got it backwards as usual

[ScrewMaster]

Scientists Probe the Use of the Tongue

While the rest of us use the tongue as a probe.

Heh

[MoogMan]

Mmm, tastes like North North East.

Brimful of Sensors

[d'alz]

Whoa, I knew the tongue always deserved more attention than people give it. Now they realise... ;P

Home! Home is where you hang your hat!

[spun]

I feel so break-up, I wanna go home!

We know.

[Chmcginn]

It's just not as funny that way.