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BrainPort  Vision Pro 

®

®

The new BrainPort  Vision Pro is a 2nd generation oral electronic vision aid that provides electro-tactile stimulation to aid profoundly blind patients in orientation, mobility, and object recognition as an adjunctive device to other assistive methods such as the white cane or a guide dog.

BrainPort Vision Pro translates digital information from a wearable video camera into gentle electrical stimulation patterns on the surface of the tongue. Users feel moving bubble-like patterns on their tongue which they learn to interpret as the shape, size, location and motion of objects in their environment. Some users have described it as being able to “see with your tongue”.

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TECHNOLOGY

 

 

The BrainPort Vision Pro vision aid is a headset that contains a small video camera, user controls, a rechargeable battery, and the tongue array. The headset is fully adjustable and available in 3 different sizes to accommodate most users.

The camera works in a variety of lighting conditions and has an adjustable field of view. The tongue array contains 394 electrodes and is connected to the headset via a flexible cable so it can’t be dropped and lost. When in use, white pixels from the camera are felt on the tongue as strong stimulation, black pixels as no stimulation, and gray levels as medium levels of stimulation.

USA - Rx Only

NON-SURGICAL SOLUTION

 

 

The BrainPort Vision Pro is being used by individuals with no usable vision, both congenitally blind and with acquired blindness. Good candidates for using the BrainPort Vision Pro are people that have completed conventional blind rehabilitation training and are comfortable using conventional assistive tools.  A non-surgical solution, BrainPort Vision Pro does not affect the eyes. This is important in the event future research offers better alternatives for people who are totally blind.

Physician holding a tablet

TRAINING

BrainPort Vision Pro user going through training

Supervised training is necessary prior to using the BrainPort Vision Pro device independently. Training is offered through certified, independent training facilities. A typical training course is 10 hours of one-on-one training, over a three-day period, including customized content for the individual user.   

BrainPort Vision Aid in the News

Reading with the Tongue: Individual Differences Affect the Perception of Ambiguous Stimuli with the BrainPort  CHI '20, April 2019

Blind teen raising money for technology to help him see the world around him  NewsCenterMaine.com, April 2019

BrainPort Training in Chile  (Spanish Language) Teletrece 13, December 2018

BrainPort Vision Pro  Closing The Gap, November 2018

Performance of Real-world Functional Tasks Using an Updated Oral Electronic Vision Device in Persons Blinded by Trauma  Optometry and Vision Science, September 2018

Seeing with the Brain  Wisconsin People & Ideas Magazine, Winter 2018

Erik Weihenmayer's Wall of Dreams   Real Sports w/Bryant Gumbel / HBO, December 2017

Device uses touch as a substitute for sight   Madison Magazine, October 2017

Sight: It's On The Tip of Your Tongue   Ever Widening Circles, October 2017

Seeing With Your Tongue   The New Yorker, May 2017

Tasting Sight   Vimeo, November 2016

High-tech vision: Nonsurgical device allows blind to gauge surroundings   TribLIVE, November 2016

BrainPort creates brighter future for blind Americans   Fox 2 now St. Louis, October 2016

Finding Vision and Hope Through Modern Technology   Sandy's View, August 2016

Technology Helps a Blind Cubs Fan "See" The Action   CBS 2 Chicago, July 2016

A taste of vision: Device translates from camera to brain, via the tongue   University of Wisconsin-Madison News,   July 2016

BrainPort Generates Hope on Father's Day  The Chicago Lighthouse, June 2016

Device for the Profoundly Blind Uses Tongue Electrodes OIS@ASCRS 2016 Mtg., May 2016

Taste the Sights Around You?   Penn State University, April 2016

New Technology Innovations  (Chinese language), Beijing TV, April 2016

Wicab, Inc. Meets with the China Disabled Persons Federation  (Chinese language), January 2016

The Ophthalmologist Magazine Innovation Award for 2015  The Ophthalmologist, December 2015

Gift of Sight: Community donates device to help blind woman see  WOIO-19 CBS Cleveland, November 2015

Could an electric lollipop help blind people to get around?  Science Museum, London, October 2015

Argentine Journalist Discovers New Hope at Chicago Lighthouse  The Chicago Lighthouse, September 2015

An Artist: How Technology Helped Emilie Gossiaux Overcome Blindness to Rediscover Her Process  Paste, September 2015

First BrainPort patient trained at Chicago Lighthouse following FDA approval  The Chicago Lighthouse, July 2015

Seeing with Your Tongue WTMJ-4 NBC Milwaukee, July 6,2015

FDA Approves Device that Lets Blind People See with Their Tongue  NBC News, June 19, 2015

Device That Helps Blind See With Their Tongues Just Won FDA Approval  Popular Science, June 2015

Wicab's Wearable Vision Device Nears U.S. Market, Thanks to Google  EXOME, February 2015

Seeing in Tongues  RadioLab, October 2014

New Device Lets Blind Boy See Through Sensations Associated Press, August 2014

Research Insights: The BrainPort Device Akron Children's Hospital, 2013

The Wicab BrainPort: using the tongue to "see"  British Library, July 2011

The blind rock climber who sees with his tongue  BBC, May 2011

Giving Sight Carnegie Mellon University, 2011

British Soldier Blinded in Iraq Trials New Technology  The Telegraph, March 2010

BrainPort Lets the Blind See with the Tongues  SingularityHUB, November 2009

Tasting the Light: Device Lets the Blind "See" with Their Tongues  Scientific American, August 2009

'Lollipop' Device Helps Reveal Shapes To The Blind  Washington Post, July 2009

A Tongue for an Eye: Device Challenges Conventional Vision  NIH (National Institute of Health) Record, March 2009

The Blind Climber Who "Sees" With His Tongue  Discover Magazine, July 2008

The Brain That Changes Itself: into the abyss  The Telegraph, July 2008

Mixed Feelings  Wired Magazine, March 2007

Technology May Give Blind A Touch of Sight  CBS Evening News, January 2007

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Copyright © 2022 Wicab, Inc. WI, USA. All Rights Reserved.

† BrainPort is a trademark registered in the US Patent and Trademark office.

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