• Question: Is there any way to enhance our senses

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      Asked by xX_OldmanBamanaboni_Xx to John, Laura, Luke, Rob, Ruth on 15 Jun 2016.
      • Photo: Ruth Patchett

        Ruth Patchett answered on 15 Jun 2016:


        Yes. I am pretty pleased that we can as I have pretty strong glasses and when I was a kid I had to wear a hearing aid. I am very pleased to have these senses inhanced!
        There are also some cool peieces of technology such as sensors like bats to help blind people ride bikes!
        http://antenna.sciencemuseum.org.uk/pointsofview/how-can-bat-sensors-help-blind-people-cycle-points-of-view
        (although I used to ride a tandem bike with a blind group so you can just do that instead…)
        You can actually learn to have a better sense of smell-some people train to do this and work for perfume companies and can tell apart 100s of different smells and even predict what combinations of different smells will come out like.

        But generally I’d say yes either with external technology -generally safer and considered more “ethical” or genetic manipulation this should be possbile.

      • Photo: Laura Finney

        Laura Finney answered on 15 Jun 2016:


        As Ruth said, they can be enhanced but there is also other ways, by removing one sense you enhance another. Now I’m not saying we should make anyone blind or take away their sense of smell, but there is evidence to show that if you lose a sense, the others kick in to make up for it.

        There is a restaurant in London where it is completely dark. You go in and aren’t told what’s on the menu and you cannot see your hands in front of your face. They say this enhances the flavours of the foods, makes you taste and smell more and makes the experience amazing. I would love to go and try it out!

      • Photo: Luke Williams

        Luke Williams answered on 16 Jun 2016:


        I suppose my take on this would be the genetic engineering route, which would be quite difficult and highly unethical.

        Given that there are animals out there with better senses than us, then in theory it should be possible to discover what makes those animals so good at what they do, and import those features to humans. There would probably be some substantial side effects though, and would require some serious testing to get right.

        My personal favourite might be the mantis shrimp and its ability to see colour: http://theoatmeal.com/comics/mantis_shrimp

      • Photo: John Fossey

        John Fossey answered on 16 Jun 2016:


        Luke – any answer that includes a mantis shrimp must be winner.

        we often enhance our senses, good examples already given

        a microscope and a stethoscope spring to mind

        but how to enhance taste and touch?

        I know – for example – that combinations of senses can have a profound effect

        did you know that if subjects eat crisps their perception of freshness can be modulated by play ing different sounds – ie crunching sounds

        So we can enhance our taste perception by complimenting it with audio signals – there are similar studies with visuals too. In fact take a look at this https://youtu.be/YftfOWT-0LM using augmented reality – if a biscuit looks bigger you feel fulller

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