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Watch a small Quicktime movie [590kB].
We have developed the technology for a kit that allows learners to model how neurons communicate in our brains. The kit is being designed in cooperation with the Learning Technology Center at the Science Museum of Minnesota.
The kit contains a variety of neuron blocks that can be plugged into one another. Each of the blocks demonstrates a different capability, including receptor potential, thresholding, action potential, and excitatory and inhibitory behavior. Thus physical inputs (sound, light, touch) will trigger excitation thresholds on sensory neurons, which will then send signals through the network to any action neurons (which might spin a motor). Learners can dynamically change the topography of the neuron network by swapping plugs from one neuron to another.
We have developed custom electronics that allow the SMM team to design and program the behaviors they want. This dynamic control technology is based on extensions to the Cricket system, originally developed at the MIT Media Lab. Development is ongoing...
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built for the Learning Technology Center
at the Science Museum of Minnesota
based on Cricket technology
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