"By routing signals from helmet-mounted cameras, sonar and other equipment through the tongue to the brain, researchers hope to give elite soldiers superhuman senses similar to owls, snakes and fish.
A narrow strip of red plastic connects the Brain Port to the tongue where 144 microelectrodes transmit information through nerve fibers to the brain. Instead of holding and looking at compasses and bluky-hand-held sonar devices, the divers can processes the information through their tongues, said Dr. Anil Raj, the project's lead scientist."
-- ABC News (Apr 24, 2006) via Technovelgy
In 2004, Microsoft received a patent for using human skin as a power conduit and data bus Personal Area Network). "Furthermore, Microsoft said, the physical resistance offered by the human body could be used to create a virtual keyboard on a patch of skin." (CNet)
