The podcast “110 Histórias | 110 Objetos” (“110 Stories, 110 Objects”) covers the 110 years of history of Instituto Superior Técnico, through its past, present and future objects.
A collection of objects related to different fields, such as science, music, arts and sports, is the starting point for conversations with people who will tell us more about the history of these objects.
A new episode is released every week. The podcast “110 Histórias | 110 Objetos” (“110 Stories, 110 Objects”) is part of the Público newspaper podcasts.
Today’s episode (#57) – 29th July 2022: “110 Histórias | 110 Objetos” (“110 Stories, 110 Objects”) – “ELONICA, an interactive demonstrator of a visual prosthesis”.
At the beginning of this century, researchers from Técnico / INESC ID were part of a European project with the ambitious goal of contributing to restoring some vision in blind people. The experience at Técnico, which involved computer models and computer architecture, tried to help solve the challenge of acquiring and processing images for a device implanted in the brain, without external physical connections. The project has contributed to advances in this field, but also gave rise to ELONICA, an interactive demonstrator of a visual prosthesis, which brings together interdisciplinary knowledge in the field of electronic engineering, and has aroused the curiosity of hundreds of young people over the last few years. It consists of a mannequin motorised head with swimming goggles, five electric motors, lithium batteries, a solar panel that captures the light produced by an artificial sun and a video monitor that features image processing of an artificial retina…
