These things called Tactile Visual Substitution Systems (or TVSSes) were invented (in, like, the 60s) that essentially allow blind users to have visual experiences completely mediated by touch. Here is a quote from Andy Clark's Supersizing the Mind (a thumping good read, by the way, but rather technical) -
"...the earliest such systems were grids of blunt "nails" fitted to the backs of blind subjects and taking input from a head-mounted camera. In response to camera input, specific regions of the grid became active, gently stimulating the skin under the grid. At first, subjects report only a vague tingling sensation. But after wearing the grid while engaged in various kinds of goal-driven activity (walking, eating etc), the reports change dramatically. Subjects stop feeling the tingling on the back and start to report rough, quasi-visual experiences of looming objects and so forth. After awhile, a ball thrown at the head causes instinctive and appropriate ducking." (35)
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Ugh, the brain is so awesome.
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