Neurophysiological Basis of a Tactile Vision-Substitution System

The instrumentation produced and the results obtained with the tactile vision-substitution system (TVSS) developed in our laboratories have been described by Collins [1] and White [2]. With the TVSS, the information from a TV camera is carried to the brain by means of the tactile receptors in the skin of the back and their neural pathways. Such information produces subjective impressions in blind subjects that are analogous to the subjective impressions produced by the visual input in normal sighted people. Some of the neural mechanisms underlying the systems design and the results obtained with the TVSS are noted.