As Published In July/August 2003

Changing the Way We See

Touchy-feely television, the finest of optical fibers, and bringing sight to the visually impaired

Touch TV
Force-Feedback Broadcasts
Researchers working in Dublin-based Media Lab Europe's Palpable Machines Group envision bringing haptic (touch) interactivity to tomorrow's television viewer in the form of a dedicated touch track built into television broadcast streams. Such tracks could trigger furniture and remote-control devices that have built-in force-feedback components. These devices not only could bring a greater sense of immersion to television—slightly jostling the viewer when two football players collide, for example—but also could help those who are visually impaired get more out of the broadcast.

Web Locator Media Lab Europe's Palpable Machines Group www.mle.ie/palpable NewScientist.com www.newscientist.com/hottopics/tech/article.jsp?id=99993522&sub=Nanotechnology VisionCare Ophthalmic Technologies www.visioncareinc.net

Silk Degrees
Spider-Fiber Tubes
As optical circuits get ever smaller, so too must the fibers that deliver light to them. A team of chemical engineers from the University of California, Riverside, led by Dr. Yushan Yan, has devised an intriguing way to create optical fibers just 2 nanometers wide. The team repeatedly dipped 1-centimeter-long silk threads from a Madagascaran spider into a chemical solution, baked the coated fibers at 420 ¡C to burn out the silk, and were left with 1-micrometer hollow silica tubes. In addition to acting as optical fibers, these tubes could be fashioned into nanoscale test tubes for storing single molecules.

Seeing Aid
Implantable Miniature Telescope
Those with moderate to severe macular degeneration disease—a condition that leads to central-vision blindness—may see a brighter day thanks to work taking place in Saratoga, California. VisionCare Ophthalmic Technologies has developed the Implantable Miniature Telescope (IMT), a 4-by-3-millimeter quartz tube containing microscopic lenses within and quartz windows at each end that's implanted in one eye. Currently in clinical trials in the U.S., the IMT replaces the eye's lens—working with the cornea to amplify and project images to the healthy areas of the retina. Because the device is planted in only one eye, patients must be trained to use it: The eye containing the IMT provides central vision, whereas the other eye is tasked with providing peripheral vision.