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From: sobiloff@acc.stolaf.edu (Chrome Cboy)
Newsgroups: sci.virtual-worlds
Subject: Re: VR and the handicapped
Message-ID: <10093@milton.u.washington.edu>
Date: 27 Oct 90 19:27:31 GMT
References: <9961@milton.u.washington.edu>
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In article <9961@milton.u.washington.edu> esdvt@esdvt.esd.sgi.com (ESD DVT) writ
es:
>    Why wouldn't people who are visually handicapped just have the
> dead nerves or whatever was failing bypassed by hardware so they
>could "see"  I think that as stuff like socketing in prosthetics becomes more
>viable this sort of thing would be possible?  any flames/comments/support?

[Note to the moderator: I'm assuming that this post passes the non-cyberpunk
        kosherness test since it was posted. Please feel free to put my reply
        in the bit bucket if my assumption is incorrect. (A receipt would be
        appreciated, however... :-) ]

Something like this certainly would be nice for both visually handicapped
individuals and non-handicapped individuals. However, our current level of
technology, not to mention our very limited knowledge of higher-order visual
processing, currently prohibits anything like this.

Another problem is that, even if we were able to perform such operations,
they would not help individuals who had been blind since birth or at an
early age. There are numerous physiological developments in the visual
centers of the brain that occur during the first year or so of life. If there
is no vision during this period these developments will not occur, thus
rendering the individual physiologically incapable of processing visual
information, even if the faulty receptors (eyes) are replaced with functional
units.

If anyone is interested in this area, a good place to look for information
is a college-level Sensation & Perception textbook. Also, if you want pointers
to papers, these are some good ones to look up:

Held, R. (1965) Plasticity in sensory-motor systems. "Scientific American,"
        213, 84-94.
Regal, D.M., Boothe, R., Teller, D.Y., & Sackett, G.B. (1976) Visual acuity
        and visual responsiveness in dark-reared monkeys. ("Macaca
        nemestrina"). "Vision Research," 16, 523-530.
Hubel, D.H., & Wiesel, T.N. (1970a). The period of susceptibility to the
        physiological effects of unilateral eye closure in kittens. "Journal
        of Physiology," 206, 419-436.


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                                                        ______________
_______________________________________________________/ Chrome C'Boy \_________
| "One of the biggest obstacles to the future of computing is C. C is the last |
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| read and write."                        -Jerry Pournelle                     |