How far can your tongue go? If you are skilled with your human tongue, here's a device that may help you.
Here comes a tongue-controlled device
As of now, machines can only be controlled through hands or fingers. It is the human limitation that only other gadgets can fulfill. However, today, there might be another way of moving machines without the usage of limbs. How about a tongue?
Scientists recently created a device that can possibly let gadgets be controlled with the movement of your tongue. This device was mainly created in order for disabled persons to live a normal life, even without their hands nor fingers. Here's how it works.
Dorothee Clasen, the one that created the tongue device called [In]Brace, was into her Master's Thesis in Integrated Design when she created the tongue-controlling device.
[In]Brace allows humans to have interaction with a machine using their mouth, or specifically the muscles of their tongue. This device is run by three sensors. [In]Brace is made out of a custom molded retainer that fits on the roof of your mouth. Inside the retainer design, there is a small ball with an embedded magnet. It was positioned in the middle of wire tracks in order to easily move its direction from up and down.
To know how it works, just place the [In]Brace inside your mouth like a regular retainer. Hook the wireless controller of the device at the back of your ear. In this way, the device will be able to send signals to the device you're about to use. The three sensors located in [in]brace will be the communication medium for the human tongue and the devices to connect.
Here's how it works, based on a video:
To set the effectivity of the [In]Brace, Clasen, and her Supervising Professor, Dr. Lasse Scherffig played a game called 'Tong.' This game will determine if the [In]Brace device really works through computers and gadgets.
As seen in the video, the woman put the retainer-design in her mouth, then put the wireless controller behind her ear. As she tried the game, she was able to smoothly move the bars to stop the ball from going out of the game.
Honestly, it was not yet the perfect device to look out for in the market. After all, Clasen clarified that there are still important sensor-related issues to find on the device. Such as the comfortability of the user to use the ball without worrying about choking with it, or even if the [In]Brace is positioned at the right level, in the first place.
As of now, Clasen advises using her newly-developed device for physiotherapy of people with disabilities. But, once it is fully-developed, do you want to try this tongue-controlling device?
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This article is owned by Tech Times
Written by Jamie Pancho
