1307: "The Device That Proved We Don’t See With Our Eyes"
Interesting Things with JC #1307: "The Device That Proved We Don’t See With Our Eyes" – In the 1970s, two devices changed how we understand vision, not by restoring sight, but by re-routing it. The brain adapted, the world opened, and it all began at home.
Episode Anchor
Episode Title
The Device That Proved We Don’t See With Our Eyes
Episode Number
#1307
Host
JC
Audience
Grades 9–12, college intro, homeschool, lifelong learners
Subject Area
Neuroscience, Assistive Technology, History of Innovation
Lesson Overview
Students will:
Define neuroplasticity and sensory substitution and describe their neurological basis.
Compare assistive technologies such as the Optacon, cochlear implants, and the BrainPort V100.
Analyze how personal experiences inspired technological breakthroughs that redefined disability.
Explain how technological adaptations can alter human perception and support cognitive adaptation.
Key Vocabulary
Neuroplasticity (n(y)oor-oh-PLAS-tis-ity) — The brain’s ability to reorganize itself by forming new neural connections throughout life. "Paul Bach-y-Rita demonstrated neuroplasticity when his father regained motor function despite extensive brain damage."
Optacon (OP-tuh-kon) — Optical-to-Tactile Converter, a device that translated printed letters into tactile pulses felt on the fingertip. "Blind readers could read printed materials at up to 100 words per minute using the Optacon."
Sensory substitution (SEN-suh-ree sub-sti-TOO-shun) — A process by which the brain receives input through an alternative sense when a primary one is unavailable. "The BrainPort allowed users to interpret visual data through tongue pulses."
Solenoid (SO-luh-noid) — A coil of wire that acts as a magnet when carrying electric current, used in Bach-y-Rita’s chair to convey shapes and motion through skin. "Solenoids embedded in a chair allowed visual signals to be interpreted via touch."
Cochlear implant (KO-klee-er IM-plant) — A biomedical device that bypasses damaged parts of the ear to send sound directly to the auditory nerve. "Cochlear implants opened new possibilities for individuals with profound hearing loss."
Narrative Core
Open
A wooden board the size of a shoebox lid changes how we understand vision and the brain's capabilities.
Info
The invention of the Optacon in 1974 allowed blind individuals to read standard print through touch, while Paul Bach-y-Rita explored alternative visual perception through tactile input.
Details
Bach-y-Rita’s father recovered from a debilitating stroke, showing the brain’s adaptability. This discovery led to the emergence of neuroplasticity theory and innovations in sensory technology.
Reflection
These inventions show that perception is not dependent on a single sense, but on the brain’s ability to process reliable signals—with belief and intention acting as catalysts.
Closing
These are interesting things, with JC.
Transcript
Interesting Things with JC #1307: "The Device That Proved We Don’t See With Our Eyes"
It was a wooden board, not much larger than a shoebox lid. But in 1974, it helped a blind man read, a deaf woman interpret printed letters, and a mute child find language. Built in Palo Alto, California, the Optacon weighed just under 2 pounds (0.9 kilograms). It looked like nothing, it did everything.
The name stood for Optical-to-Tactile Converter. A tiny camera scanned printed words, a vibrating matrix of 144 pins transmitted the shape of each letter to the user's fingertip. No Braille, no screen, just direct, letter-by-letter contact with the printed world. With training, users reached speeds of 60 to 100 words per minute, reading books, letters, forms, anything printed in standard type.
Its inventor, John Linvill, had a daughter born blind. Her name was Candy. He didn’t design the Optacon as a product, he built it as a future. That shoebox-sized board became her page, her page became a voice, and her voice carried farther than any lab could measure.
That same year, at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Paul Bach-y-Rita—bock-ee-REE-tuh—was fitting a blind volunteer with a chair embedded with solenoids. The volunteer couldn’t see, but the solenoids, small mechanical buzzers, transmitted shapes and motion from a camera onto his back. Over time, the volunteer began to detect outlines, orientation, even movement. The world wasn’t being restored to him, it was being re-routed.
Paul’s research asked a direct question: what does it mean to “see”? His answer was both scientific and personal.
Years earlier, his father Pedro had suffered a stroke so severe that doctors declared him permanently incapacitated. Paul and his brother ignored the prognosis. They built a rehabilitation program in their own home, using mirrors, exercise machines, and repetition. Their father learned to walk again. He taught. He wrote a book. And when he died, an autopsy revealed the full extent of the stroke, his original motor cortex had been destroyed. The brain had found another path.
This became Paul’s life’s work, proving the brain could adapt not just in theory, but in action. He coined the term “neuroplasticity” to describe it. At the time, few believed him. By 1979, that resistance began to shift. New sensory substitution technologies entered the field, each one proving that the brain didn’t require traditional input, it required clean signals.
In the 1980s, cochlear implants bypassed the damaged inner ear, sending electrical sound data directly to the auditory nerve. In the 1990s, devices emerged that translated images into gentle pulses on the tongue, allowing users to interpret outlines and patterns with taste receptors acting as visual proxies.
The idea kept growing. In Jerusalem, the company OrCam introduced wearable glasses that could identify people, read signs aloud, and navigate environments through discreet audio feedback. In 2017, the BrainPort V100 converted camera data into tongue pulses with directional precision, forming mental maps without sight.
Every one of these inventions followed the same principle: the brain is not rigid, it’s responsive, and it listens to anything it can trust.
But technology doesn’t stand alone. Someone has to believe it matters.
John Linvill built the Optacon not because he worked in engineering, but because his daughter Candy needed a tool no one else would build. Paul Bach-y-Rita trained his father not because he was a doctor, but because the doctors gave up too soon.
Invention didn’t begin in the lab, it began at home.
So what if awareness isn’t inherited? What if it’s designed, not only by the brain, but by the will of people who refuse to believe in limits?
A blind man tracked a moving ball using the skin on his back. A woman read a poem with her fingertip. A child traced a pulse pattern on a board the size of a shoebox lid, and said her first word aloud.
And behind each one, there was always someone who believed there had to be another way.
These are interesting things, with JC.
Student Worksheet
What was the function of the Optacon, and how did it differ from Braille?
Who was Paul Bach-y-Rita, and what question did his research attempt to answer?
How did personal experience shape the invention of the Optacon?
What does the BrainPort V100 do, and how does it relate to the concept of sensory substitution?
Reflect on this quote: “Invention didn’t begin in the lab, it began at home.” What does this mean in the context of the episode?
Teacher Guide
Estimated Time
1–2 class periods (45–90 minutes)
Pre-Teaching Vocabulary Strategy
Introduce key vocabulary using contextual visual examples, including video clips of assistive devices and a tactile reading simulation activity.
Anticipated Misconceptions
Students may believe that sensory input can only come through traditional channels (eyes for sight, ears for hearing).
Some students may assume assistive technologies are modern rather than having historical precedents.
Discussion Prompts
What drives people to innovate? How does empathy inspire invention?
How does neuroplasticity change our understanding of disability?
How does the story of Candy and Pedro challenge the idea of limits?
Differentiation Strategies
ESL: Use bilingual resources and vocabulary picture dictionaries.
IEP: Offer scaffolded reading and comprehension tools with audio support.
Gifted: Have students research and compare three assistive devices using engineering, neurological, and ethical lenses.
Extension Activities
Build a sensory-substitution simulation using classroom materials.
Interview someone who uses assistive technology and present your findings.
Create a timeline of assistive technology milestones beginning in the 1970s.
Cross-Curricular Connections
Biology: The sensory and nervous systems.
Engineering: User-centered design and innovation in accessibility.
Ethics: Philosophical inquiry into ability, perception, and personhood.
Quiz
Q1. What does the Optacon do?
A. Amplifies printed text
B. Converts images to speech
C. Translates letters into fingertip vibrations
D. Translates Braille into sound
Answer: C
Q2. Who was the Optacon originally built for?
A. A medical trial group
B. The inventor’s professor
C. John Linvill’s daughter
D. Paul Bach-y-Rita
Answer: C
Q3. What was unique about Bach-y-Rita’s chair?
A. It used visual projections
B. It stimulated memory
C. It used solenoids to transmit visual input through the skin
D. It used audio feedback
Answer: C
Q4. What principle underlies the BrainPort and cochlear implant?
A. Memory retrieval
B. Motor response
C. Sensory substitution and neuroplasticity
D. Neural inhibition
Answer: C
Q5. What discovery did Paul Bach-y-Rita make after his father’s death?
A. His motor cortex had never been damaged
B. His brain had used a different area to recover lost function
C. He had recovered due to medication
D. His recovery was a placebo effect
Answer: B
Assessment
Describe how the invention of the Optacon and the BrainPort V100 demonstrate the concept of sensory substitution. How do these devices expand our understanding of how the brain processes information?
What role did personal motivation play in the development of the assistive technologies featured in this episode? Use examples from both John Linvill and Paul Bach-y-Rita.
3–2–1 Rubric
3 = Accurate, complete, thoughtful
2 = Partial or missing detail
1 = Inaccurate or vague
Standards Alignment
Common Core (CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RST.11-12.3)
Follow multistep procedures in scientific and technical contexts—students analyze how assistive devices function.
NGSS (HS-LS1-3)
Plan and conduct an investigation to demonstrate the response of body systems to environmental changes—applicable to how the nervous system adapts through sensory substitution.
C3 Framework (D2.His.14.9-12)
Evaluate historical and scientific developments in the context of social impact—applies to the story of assistive technologies driven by personal need.
ISTE Standard 1.1.d
Students understand the fundamental concepts of technology operations and demonstrate the ability to troubleshoot systems and applications—relevant to understanding device functionality.
UK National Curriculum (Biology KS4)
Understand how the nervous system integrates sensory data and adapts to loss of function.
IB MYP Sciences Criterion C
Students apply scientific knowledge to solve problems and reflect on technological advances that improve human health and well-being.
Show Notes
Episode #1307 of Interesting Things with JC, “The Device That Proved We Don’t See With Our Eyes,” offers a transformative look at human perception, neuroplasticity, and the power of belief-driven innovation. Listeners encounter two pivotal figures: John Linvill, who invented the Optacon so his blind daughter Candy could read, and Paul Bach-y-Rita, whose revolutionary work in sensory substitution was inspired by his father's stroke recovery.
This episode demonstrates that technology is not simply an invention of parts, but a reimagining of possibilities. It teaches that our senses are not confined to biology, and that the brain, when given clear and trustworthy input, can rewire itself to receive and interpret the world in entirely new ways. Technologies like cochlear implants, OrCam glasses, and the BrainPort V100 carry forward these ideas, showing how alternative signals can substitute for sight or sound.
Teachers will find this episode a rich entry point for interdisciplinary learning in biology, engineering, and ethics. Its emphasis on practical science rooted in personal compassion offers learners an accessible and emotionally resonant path into advanced neuroscience and disability studies.
References
Bach-y-Rita, P. et al. (1969). Vision substitution by tactile image projection. Nature, 221(5184), 963–964.
Linvill, J.G. & Bliss, J.C. (1966). A Direct Translation Reading Aid for the Blind. Electronics, 39(6), 60–67.
Tyler, M.E., Danilov, Y.P., & Bach-y-Rita, P. (2003). Vestibular substitution through the tongue. Journal of Integrative Neuroscience, 2(2), 159–164.
OrCam Technologies. (2017). OrCam MyEye 2.0 Product Description and Case Studies.
NIH/NIDCD. (2020). Cochlear Implants. https://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/cochlear-implants
