Research finds that rat whiskers may help the blind to see.
Could rat whiskers help the blind to see?
Numerous studies have shown that a rat’s whiskers help them to identify the shape, texture, size and location of an object, similar to how a human’s fingertips help us identify an object through tactile sensations. Scientists at Israel’s Weizmann Institute of Science are studying how this natural ‘whisking’ sense of rats could help blind human better locate objects around them.
The study, which was published in The Journal of Neuroscience, had blindfolded participants wearing a type of ‘whisker’ attached to their index fingers on both hands. The plastic ‘whisker’, made to emulate a rat’s whisker, was around 12 inches in length, flexible and equipped with “position and force sensors on its base”.
Placing two poles on each side of the participant, they were instructed to try and find the location of the poles by just using the whiskers and then to decipher which pole was closer and which pole was furthest away. The research team continually moved the poles closer to each other and, by the end of the first day of tests, the participants were able to feel a change in pole distance of just three inches.
The scientists are hoping that with more research and testing, a device could be created that would allow the blind “to ‘see’ with their fingers”.
