Summary

The new technique could be used by Sony, the makers of the Playstation video game console, to create more realistic and immersive games, and could also be used by medical researchers to help the disabled by creating devices to let the blind see or the deaf to hear.

Original source:
http://news.com.com/Games+so+good+you+can+taste+them/2100-1043_3-5657353.html?tag=nefd.top

Details

• If you think video games are engrossing now, just wait: PlayStation maker Sony has been granted a patent for beaming sensory information directly into the brain.
• The technique could one day be used to create videogames in which you can smell, taste, and touch, or to help people who are blind or deaf.
• The U.S. patent, granted to Sony researcher Thomas Dawson, describes a technique for aiming ultrasonic pulses at specific areas of the brain to induce "sensory experiences" such as smells, sounds and images.
• "The pulsed ultrasonic signal alters the neural timing in the cortex," the patent states.
• "No invasive surgery is needed to assist a person, such as a blind person, to view live and/or recorded images or hear sounds."
• According to New Scientist magazine, the first to report on the patent, Sony's technique could be an improvement over an existing non-surgical method known as transcranial magnetic stimulation.
• This activates nerves using rapidly changing magnetic fields, but cannot be focused on small groups of brain cells.
• Niels Birbaumer, a neuroscientist at the University of Tuebingen in Germany, told New Scientist he had looked at the Sony patent and "found it plausible."
• Birbaumer himself has developed a device that enables disabled people to communicate by reading their brain waves.
• A Sony Electronics spokeswoman told the magazine that no experiments had been conducted, and that the patent "was based on an inspiration that this may someday be the direction that technology will take us."

Related Articles

Popular Topics: Sony, The brain, Playstation, Diabetes, Breast cancer, Prostate cancer, Heart disease, Depression, High cholesterol, Osteoporosis, Vaccines, Autism, ADHD, Infertility, Weight loss, Cancer, Alzheimer's, Trans fats, Acrylamides, Fluoride, Mercury	Take Action: Support NaturalNews.com Email this article to a friend Share this article on: NewsVine | digg | del.icio.us Permalink to this article: http://www.NaturalNews.com/007002.html Reprinting this article: Non-commercial OK, cite NaturalNews.com with clickable link. <a href = "http://www.NaturalNews.com/007002.html">Sony researcher develops method for direct brain stimulation</a>
Receive our Natural Health Newsletter for FREE Subscribe now (it's free!) to win. We randomly choose a subscriber each month to send $100 in eco-home products or a RealGoods.com gift certificate (our choice). Plus, you'll receive FREE news, articles and action alerts from NaturalNews.com editors and join over 800,000 monthly readers who report extraordinary health improvements after becoming a subscriber! Receive breaking news alerts on natural health solutions, renewable energy, the environment, global warming and more. Receive a free instant download of our $29 Secret Sources guide that reveals top sources for little-known health and diet solutions.	Your Email Address: Free Subscription Code: Enter the numbers you see: 100% free of charge. Unsubscribe anytime. Absolutely no spam. We respect your email privacy.
Recommended Special Report: Seven Words that can Change the World by Joseph R. Simonetta Read this special report now... "Seven Words That Can Change the World reveals the astonishing, simple truths that have the power to forever transform our world for the better while freeing our minds from the enslavement of limiting beliefs. This is not a text for the simple-minded; it is a guiding philosophy for the mindful, intelligent few who are wise enough to seek out -- and recognize -- the higher simplicities of truly purposeful living." - Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, editor of NaturalNews.com	More on NaturalNews.com: • Streaming Health Ranger Videos • CounterThink Cartoons • FREE Special Reports • Podcasts