"Tongue-assisted technology is developed" - a Unicorn Is Seen?
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Tongue-assisted technology is developed - UPI.com
In the story reported by UPI.com, a researcher reports developing a tongue device–more of a concept–that will purportedly help thousands of people with severe disabilities communicate and be independent. As fascinating as the research is, I am skeptical of it’s practical applications. It isn’t so much that the research itself is not valuable. It’s research like this that eventually leads to revolutionary progress. However I am concerned that, like most other research, this idea will be dropped and no one will take up the conceptual frame to develop the devices promised.
While I perfectly understand the need to use superlative terms to describe research that is likely to have significant impact on the disability commmunity, it certainly doesn’t need to be described in such terms as to outweigh its research quality. Devices are not out yet. Let us actually see a device derived from this research.