{"items": [{"author": "Mac", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/229291243803081?comment_id=229322657133273", "anchor": "fb-229322657133273", "service": "fb", "text": "The FDA pays attention to stuff that interacts with the body, particularly when it addresses a medical condition -- like blindness. The product must be safe and efficacious. The tongue has high nerve density, but the palm of the hand might be a lower social and technical hurdle.", "timestamp": "1321456434"}, {"author": "Andrew", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/229291243803081?comment_id=229343540464518", "anchor": "fb-229343540464518", "service": "fb", "text": "Yeah, what Mac said. Search for 21 CFR 820, which are the FDA medical device regulations. Complying with the regulations is very resource intensive, especially for a small organization. If you are doing research, it is possible to get a waiver at first, but if you are producing a commercial product, you're talking about a lot of tedious extra work. Note that the FDA regulations only apply in the USA, each country has its own rules that are slightly different, in annoying ways.
Re the idea of tongue sensor, it sounds interesting, but my first mundane question is, what would it be like to have a lollipop sensor in your mouth all the time? I'm guessing it might be uncomfortable or might cause wear and tear on tissue in the mouth, but I don't know.", "timestamp": "1321459429"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/229291243803081?comment_id=229422493789956", "anchor": "fb-229422493789956", "service": "fb", "text": "@Walker: one problem with a palm sensor is you'd either need it to be wet or use a really high voltage if you wanted to feel it. You can feel a jolt if you lick a nine volt battery, but not if you press it to your palm.", "timestamp": "1321469759"}, {"author": "Mac", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/229291243803081?comment_id=229469543785251", "anchor": "fb-229469543785251", "service": "fb", "text": "Very good point. Saliva is a great conductor. Re blindness, have you seen the echo-locating blind boy? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1QaCeosUmw", "timestamp": "1321475491"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/229291243803081?comment_id=229470660451806", "anchor": "fb-229470660451806", "service": "fb", "text": "@Walker: quite neat. He's not the only one: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_echolocation", "timestamp": "1321475630"}, {"author": "Andrew", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/229291243803081?comment_id=229542137111325", "anchor": "fb-229542137111325", "service": "fb", "text": "Jeff, I think it's not a sensor, since the signal is going the other way. I don't know what the word for that is, I guess they said electrode, but that doesn't really imply stimulation. (Zapper?) Re palm conductivity, I assume you could do something with a conductive adhesive that wouldn't dry out quickly - probably better than a grease. Of course, that strays from the tongue device idea.
The idea of combining tongue stimulation and sticky reminds me, when I was a kid, there was a brand of taffy lollipop called \"Sugar Daddy\" - it would make a good adhesive tongue interface that could be adapted for this nonexistent purpose (since if you have saliva you don't need sticky).", "timestamp": "1321485053"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/229291243803081?comment_id=1770992836299573", "anchor": "fb-1770992836299573", "service": "fb", "text": "Related idea: since your ear more or less does an analogue fourier transform, you could do something similar for sound with per-frequency electrodes.", "timestamp": "1525870692"}]}