Cyborg in the playground

[Telonius]

Just had to share a bit of good news with everybody. A few months ago, I was approved for a cochlear implant (finally flunking the hearing tests badly enough that they considered me a candidate). At the beginning of December, I got the surgery to put it in. And today they clipped the gizmo on to activate it. Everybody's voice sounds like a cross between a Cyberman and Soundwave from the 80s Transformers cartoon. But I'm now officially a cyborg, and I've already noticed it's picking up a whole lot more than my hearing aid did.

[theangelJean]

I, for one, welcome... No, wait.
Congratulations!

[TaiLiu]

Congrats on your CIs! I recall that someone wrote that CIs feed you audiological info differently than ears do... I guess that's what's meant by your voices comment.

[tomandtish]

This is how Skynet hooks you. First cochlear implants. Then bionic legs. And then you're so hooked that you'll agree to off John Connor just for that nifty fusion battery chest implant!

(But seriously, congrats. Glad it's making such a difference!)

[BisectedBrioche]

In in the language of my people; Sound, innit!?

[Telonius]

Congrats on your CIs! I recall that someone wrote that CIs feed you audiological info differently than ears do... I guess that's what's meant by your voices comment.

Yeah, it's hard to describe it. It's very much like hearing with the other ear (which is still working, with a hearing aid). Best way I can think of relating it, is imagine if you got a pair of glasses with one tinted lens. It's like the information is there, but overlayed when my brain is combining it.

[TaiLiu]

Yeah, it's hard to describe it. It's very much like hearing with the other ear (which is still working, with a hearing aid). Best way I can think of relating it, is imagine if you got a pair of glasses with one tinted lens. It's like the information is there, but overlayed when my brain is combining it.

Oh, gotcha! I think I get it... Would you call it hearing or would you call it receiving auditory info without hearing?

[theangelJean]

Yeah, it's hard to describe it. It's very much like hearing with the other ear (which is still working, with a hearing aid). Best way I can think of relating it, is imagine if you got a pair of glasses with one tinted lens. It's like the information is there, but overlayed when my brain is combining it.

I know this is totally not what you meant, but the first thing that came to mind was the super-soldier heads-up display you get in video games. :smallshrug:

[Dire Moose]

We are the Borg. You will be assimilated. Resistance is futile.

[Telonius]

Oh, gotcha! I think I get it... Would you call it hearing or would you call it receiving auditory info without hearing?

Taking a couple of days to think about that one - it's really tough to think about it, since the senses are such basic ways we interface with the world that we mostly don't think about them. I think I'd call it hearing. Receiving (and transmitting) auditory information (sound waves) is what ears do; the implant and the magnetic gizmo are doing that now. The hearing happens in the brain, where it's put together, noticed, and made sense of.

To go along with that, I just figured out all of the apps I needed to turn on a wireless streamer that hooks my implant up with the TV. It sends the sound info from the TV direct to my implant. But the volume control is handled by the implant, not the TV. Which means I can take the TV's remote control, press the mute button, and still be able to hear it.

[TaiLiu]

Taking a couple of days to think about that one - it's really tough to think about it, since the senses are such basic ways we interface with the world that we mostly don't think about them. I think I'd call it hearing. Receiving (and transmitting) auditory information (sound waves) is what ears do; the implant and the magnetic gizmo are doing that now. The hearing happens in the brain, where it's put together, noticed, and made sense of.

To go along with that, I just figured out all of the apps I needed to turn on a wireless streamer that hooks my implant up with the TV. It sends the sound info from the TV direct to my implant. But the volume control is handled by the implant, not the TV. Which means I can take the TV's remote control, press the mute button, and still be able to hear it.

After reading your response, I realize that I implicitly hold the opposite view. I have auditory processing deficits, but I also think of myself as someone with good hearing. So my implicit belief was that ear stuff is hearing and brain stuff is understanding. (And that's why I can struggle with understanding what people say while having good hearing.) Pretty cool to learn that you hold an opposing belief. Makes me wonder if I should re-evaluate mine.

That's neat. With your CIs, you can now hog TV audio.