To create the superwarrior of the future, some military researchers aren’t focusing on muscles or hearts, but on tongues. By sending signals from helmet-mounted cameras, sonar and other equipment through the tongue to the brain, they hope to give soldiers superhuman senses similar to owls, snakes and fish. Florida Institute researchers want to give soldiers 360-degree unobstructed vision at night and allow navy SEALs to sense sonar under water. The ‘Brain Port,’ was pioneered 30 years ago by Dr Paul Bach-y-Rita, a University of Wisconsin neuroscientist. Dr Bach-y-Rita began sending images from a camera through electrodes taped to people’s backs and later discovered the tongue was a better transmitter. A strip of red plastic connects the Brain Port to the tongue, where 144 microelectrodes transmit information through nerve fibres to the brain. Instead of using compasses and sonar devices, the divers could process the information through their tongues, said Dr Anil Raj, the project’s lead scientist. In testing, blind people found doorways, noticed people walking in front of them and caught balls. A version of the device, expected to be available soon, has restored balance to those whose systems in the inner ear […]