Artificial Vision for the Blind

castanaveras writes "Canadian doctors implanted an artificial eye into a blind man - it performs well enough for him to be able to drive (admittedly in an empty parking lot)." We've done lots of previous stories about bionic eyes.

Comments

Still...

[Devil's BSD]

The nerve connections can never regrow completely, meaning the sight can never be as good as yours or mine (on second thought, I have -7 diopter lenses...). I don't even think the guy can move his eyes around. The true victory will come when when we manage to reattach nerve connections completely, because then we can repair spinal cord injuries and the like.

Oh, and the million dollar man references are all lies: The procedure, hospitalization and equipment cost about $98,000 US..

Re:Still...

[NanoGator]

"The true victory will come when when we manage to reattach nerve connections completely, because then we can repair spinal cord injuries and the like. "

Agreed. However, there are some hopeful alternatives. The brain has some very powerful processing capabilities. I don't remember where I read it, but recently I ran across a story where they were sending signals to the part of the brain that processes sound. Using sound, the patient was able to create a crude image of basic solid shapes. This isn't sight, but this person was able to recognize the dresser in her bedroom.

I can imagine that they'll find inventive ways to send some sort of signal to the brain, and it'll make use of the information it's getting. Heck, we may see a VISOR like Geordi LaForge weas. Imagine sight via RF signals...

The ultimate eyeball

[Mustang Matt]

So if creativity was your only limitation, what would the ultimate artificial eyeball be capable of?

I assume it would have huge amounts of optical zoom capability. Would it also have some sort of CCD showing so that you could change your eye "style" on demand?

Maybe it could have a little hole in the middle of it setup to squirt "eye fluid" on people you don't like!

Re:The ultimate eyeball

[yog]

The sky's the limit on capabilities.

- Instant replay: probably a no-brainer (so to speak); add some memory and TIVO-type controls to the belt pack.

- Human camera: throw away your still and video cameras. You will never need them again. Your vacations will be completely documented, as will everything else you do. Hmm; some things you might want to be able to delete, though.

- zoom (optical and digital): as you described.

- wireless capability: you could be a real time eyewitness reporter, or a human webcam.

- filters: cut the brightness factor on a sunny day

- night vision: add infrared capability. You'll see better than "sighted" people 24 hours a day. If you live alone, you'll never need lights in your home and can save on the electricity..

- Direct PC interface: throw away your CRT/LCD screens; you can just jack straight into your computer's video output. I wonder if 3D capability is possible.

- Remote sight: using a wireless connection, you could instantly cut over to cameras installed in your house to check on your kids, etc. You could have a remote control system to turn the camera's focus in any direction as you move your head or with a joystick. This would be handy for remote conferencing too.

Re:The ultimate eyeball

[DoctorFrog]

I wonder if 3D capability is possible.

Heck, that should be trivial. A slightly different POV into each visual stream, kind of like the way Ma Nature did it.

(Sigh). Unfortunately, those of us who grew up with amblyopia (or just one eye, for that matter - monopia? Cyclopia?) don't have the visual processing capability even if you fix the eye.

I've often wondered what stereoscopic vision is like...

Re:Just to get it right.

[mindstrm]

Really.

Well.. what would you call something that takes video input and relays it to your visual cortex?

I'd call it an eye.

Not much new with Dobelle, but look at Eyetap

[McLuhanesque]

...this is actually nothing particularly special, since all the technologies are relatively well-known (among the right circles), and mostly invented by Dr. Steve Mann of the University of Toronto. According to Steve, what the patient actually perceives is more akin to contrast resolution, rather than anything that the visually unimpaired would call "sight".

What is perhaps more interesting, and more widely useful is the Eyetap technology itself. Essentially, Eyetap uses the camera and wearble computer to drive a small laser that mediates reality directly into the eye. For people who are not blind, but profoundly visually impaired, this technology may be a godsend.

Beam me up, Geordi LaForge!

Is it permanent?

[atcurtis]

I wonder how they have solved the problem of decomposition - the body's immune system is a powerful entity. Implant a silicon chip and the body will attack it and erode it. Implant it in a glass capsule and then how to make the electrical connections?

These things have been reported several times in the past but each time, it degrades within months and typically doesn't last even 6 months in the body.

So how "permanent" is this artificial eye? That is the question everyone wants answered. Does it require lots of external hardware to operate (as some older experiements have done). What kind of power source is required?

Re:Would you replace your parts for enhanced ones?

[theRiallatar]

You better believe I'd be willing to do it if it was offered to the general public. Heck, I'd probably even be willing to sign up as a test subject in order to compare the functionality of the artificial to what a normally functioning limb/organ/etc performed like.

This device bypasses some important areas

[Illserve]

Don't get me wrong, I'm very impressed by this device, and I hope it works out.

However, the visual cortex is not the end all-all be-all of visual information in the brain. Visual information on the way to this cortex is first passed through other areas of the brain, such as the Lateral Geniculate Nucleus, which process the information, and also allow it to interact with other brain areas.

Based on my knowledge of the intricate, piecemeal nature of brain design, these pre-processing areas are probably involved in some fairly important low-level, reflexive aspects of vision. Bypassing them may restore the conscious aspects of vision and allow a great deal of function, but will miss out on some other aspects of vision that we are not consciously aware of.

Repairing the optic nerve is the only way to get real vision.

But that's step #1000, kudos to these pioneers for having the courage and ability to do step #10.

Second Hand Experience

[LostSinner]

having lived with a blind mother all of my life, and realizing that blind people travel in packs (ha! i made a funny!), i ran this by them... the one response that i heard repeatedly, from both those who had been blind from birth and those who had lost it at some point in their lives, was that they would honestly prefer to remain blind. some said that they would appreciate partial sight (the ability to discern shapes, etc.), but that full sight would be too much for them to deal with. i argued that with proper therapy they could get used to having their sight back, but they stuck to their guns.

on a side note (at the risk of being rated down), is anyone in the slashdot community actively and consciously creating accessible websites? at this point in artificial vision technology, no one has yet to create a widely accepted, usable solution. there are too many diseases, too many causes of blindness to deal with to see a fix-all solution come about... so the best solution is to either ensure that a site is accessible, or design an accessible alternative site. you would be surprised at the number of blind people who are online these days. my little brothers and my father are always complaining that my mother is using up their broadband bandwidth at home with her usage.

at any rate, it's something to consider.