Artful Innovation: Inclusive Design and Technology

July 20 – August 30, 2017 | A Jean Kennedy Smith Arts and Disability Program

Emilie Gossiaux and BrainPort

Emily Gossiaux was a Cooper Union art student in New York City when a truck hit her while she was riding her bicycle. She lost her vision as a result of the accident. She moved to Minnesota to take braille and computer classes and joined a study of the BrainPort Vision Device. She started using the BrainPort to draw and then created ceramic pieces from her sketches. Gossiaux is a practicing artist and is enrolled in a master of fine arts program at Yale University. Gossiaux is a 2013 VSA Emerging Young Artist.

BrainPort V100 translates images from a wearable video camera into electrical stimulation patterns on the tongue. Users feel moving bubble-like patterns and learn to interpret them as the shape, size, location, and motion of objects captured by their cameras. Some users have described the experience as being able to “see with your tongue.”

Emilie Gossiaux’s Website BrainPort V100 Website
Emilie Gossiaux sits at a table and paints with black paint while wearing the Brainport Visions Device.