4 ms·

I can't find the article discussing it, but this reminds me of "Beyond sensory substitution--learning the sixth sense." [1] which is one of my favourite studies

I can't find the article discussing it, but this reminds me of "Beyond sensory substitution--learning the sixth sense." [1] which is one of my favourite studies on neuroplasticity. Basically, hook up a load of cell phone vibrators to a belt, add GPS, make the vibrator closest to north vibrate so that you have a constant haptic compass. People wore them constantly and became better at navigational tasks: were better at finding their way around in new areas, were much more conscious of subtle curves in roads and could more reliably point in a direction and say "My house is over there". The haptic compass became a new sense for them. Interestingly, once the compass was removed, people also reported a sense of being lost without it that subsided after a few days, because they had come to depend on it. [1] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16317228 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16317228

gregsadetsky 13y ago
Here's the Wired article from 2007: http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/15.04/esp_pr.html http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/15.04/esp_pr.html
fsck--off 13y ago
> Basically, hook up a load of cell phone vibrators to a belt, add GPS, make the vibrator closest to north vibrate so that you have a constant haptic compass. Or you could learn a language like Guugu Yimithirr, which doesn't use egocentric coordinates at all (e.g "to my left", "behind me", "in front of me"). Instead, speakers use north, south, east, and west when giving directions, which means that they must know what direction they are facing at all times. There are stories of native speakers being blindfolded and spun around many times in a dark room without losing their sense of direction. [1] [1] http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/29/magazine/29language-t.html?pagewanted=all http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/29/magazine/29language-t.html...

gregsadetsky 13y ago

Here's the Wired article from 2007: http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/15.04/esp_pr.html http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/15.04/esp_pr.html

fsck--off 13y ago

> Basically, hook up a load of cell phone vibrators to a belt, add GPS, make the vibrator closest to north vibrate so that you have a constant haptic compass. Or you could learn a language like Guugu Yimithirr, which doesn't use egocentric coordinates at all (e.g "to my left", "behind me", "in front of me"). Instead, speakers use north, south, east, and west when giving directions, which means that they must know what direction they are facing at all times. There are stories of native speakers being blindfolded and spun around many times in a dark room without losing their sense of direction. [1] [1] http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/29/magazine/29language-t.html?pagewanted=all http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/29/magazine/29language-t.html...