Page - 61 - in Cyborg Mind - What Brain–Computer and Mind–Cyberspace Interfaces Mean for Cyberneuroethics

Neuronal Interface Systems • 61 range. Bats navigate by emitting high-frequency sounds and picking up the echoes, so it may be feasible in the future to build a similar system into implanted devices. In theory, a person could then switch to night operation and turn their hearing system into a navigational radar. Resistance from the Deaf Community It would be easy to assume that everyone who cannot hear will be excited by these developments and would welcome the possibility of implants. But this is not the case. Without the ability to hear, deaf people have developed various forms of sign languages and, just as with different spoken languages in different parts of the worlds, a strong culture has developed amongst deaf persons in which signing is a critical element. Individuals are brought together by their need to sign and this gather- ing brings a distinct identity. People in these communities use the capital D deliberately saying they are Deaf, in the same way that others would say they are French or German. This means that an implant that removes deafness may be considered as a highly disruptive technology and could be seen by some as unwelcome. The strength of feeling is such that, on occasions, Deaf parents whose condition is the result of having particular genes have argued to be allowed to use embryo screening to choose Deaf offspring. Their desire is to have a child who can join in with their community rather than be part of a ‘foreign’ social identity.44 Retinal Vision Implants Vision implants are also being considered to treat non-congenital (acquired) blindness. In this regard, a very limited visual sensation has been possible with retinal implants in which a digital camera is worn by the user that trans- mits an image, through an electrical signal, to an electrode array implanted on the back of the retina of his or her eye. This gives some general percep- tion, but a number of limitations still remain, including biocompatibility problems. One of the first researchers to study the possibility of using neuronal interface systems to restore sight was undertaken by the British physiologist Giles Brindley in 1968, who implanted an 80 electrode device on the visual cortical surface of a 52-year-old blind woman. As a result, she was able to recognise some directly induced patterns.45 Further experiments were developed by the American biomedical scien- tist William Dobelle (1941–2004). In 2000 he indicated that he had used cameras mounted on glasses to send signals through a computer to a 68 array of very small electrodes implanted into a blind person’s visual cortex, which succeeded in producing the sensation of seeing light.46 This open access edition has been made available under a CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license thanks to the support of Knowledge Unlatched. Not for resale.