[fab1an]

Some context: there is an entire neuroscientific field of study devoted to substituting one sensory modality with another: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sensory_substitution

The field was pioneered by Paul Bach-y-Rita (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Bach-y-Rita) who most notably invented a setup that allowed blind people to "see" via a camera connected to a vibrating grid attached to their their backs, effectively substituting visual with haptic input.

In a nutshell, there is nothing intrinsically "visual" about neurons in the visual cortex, nor are neurons in the, e.g., auditory cortex exclusively tuned towards sound - the brain is plastic enough to "make sense" of a new type of input signal, which typically takes a couple of weeks.

My co-founder Peter König at EyeQuant.com - a neuroscience professor at the University of Osnabrueck - is working on similar projects with his feelspace group, where they created a compass-belt that vibrates whereever north is, taking sensory substitution a step further by effectively creating a new sensory modality of direction (Wired article: http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/15.04/esp.html)

As an excellent philosophical take on this I would recommend Alva Noe's "Action in Perception": http://www.amazon.com/dp/0262140888/

[Lockyy]

I'm curious if for blind people the back stimulation system for seeing things would start to produce visuals in a way similar to normal sight. Similar to the possiblity that ultrasound used by bats might allow them to "see."

Also, I really want to get one of those compass-belts. It seems like an incredible experiencee. I wonder how it feels to not have it on though. Losing a sense mustn't be the nicest experience.