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Microchip Eye Implant Promises To Restore Sight

Posted by timothy on from the will-soon-outnumber-regular-eyes dept.

Anguirel writes "The BBC is reporting that a microchip implanted in the eye could restore sight. The chip has already been tested in some animals and seems to work. Researchers hope to begin tests in humans in 3 years. Present generation is fairly limited in scope, but this could pave the way for cybereyes in the future." A search for retina shows some of the other research going on in this field, too.

19 comments

  1. A little optimistic by QuantumG · · Score: 4, Funny

    Man, you would have figured they'd at least try making a visor first.

    --
    How we know is more important than what we know.
    1. Re:A little optimistic by coryboehne · · Score: 2

      I would actually love to see someone wearing one of those things that wasn't a hopeless trekkie, but rather a blind man seeking vision... That would be cool....

  2. Shades (pardon the pun) of Dune by Spock+the+Baptist · · Score: 3, Funny

    Tleilax eyes eh?

    --
    "Oh drat these computers, they're so naughty and so complex, I could pinch them." --Marvin the Martian
    1. Re:Shades (pardon the pun) of Dune by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Nah, they were all metal weren't they, not polydimethylsiloxane.
      I never figured out why they could clone everything but the eyes. Strange, no?

    2. Re:Shades (pardon the pun) of Dune by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Pah! Because they used them for mind control, you dung-eating spawn of a lizard!

      And it serves those who would get these eyes right!

      Feh! Any true Fremen, blinded, would walk into the desert to meet Shai-Hulud!

  3. Zzzzzzz[-- Snoring sets off the lameness filter?] by Lord+Bitman · · Score: 1, Offtopic

    Wake me when I can get on of these that works with T-rays

    --
    -- 'The' Lord and Master Bitman On High, Master Of All
  4. Great news but... by borgrulez · · Score: 0

    That's Great news but what is it doing in the interview section. Will someone put it in an appropriate section.

    --
    reSisTanCe iS fUtILe
  5. Screw the blind by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    When are they gonna make me those telescope/night vision/x-ray eyes I ordered last month?

  6. Related links? by MoonBuggy · · Score: 2, Informative

    Look over in the box. I wouldn't have considered bionic eyes as "consumer electronics" ;-)

  7. Cool by ShieldW0lf · · Score: 1

    Can I put some in the back of my head?

    --
    -1 Uncomfortable Truth
  8. The real question is... by Kalewa · · Score: 2, Insightful

    If these got advanced enough, how many people would sacrifice their real eyes for something bionic? And would geeks start hacking their own firmware for them?

    1. Re:The real question is... by zelphi · · Score: 1

      how many people would sacrifice their real eyes for something bionic?
      I would say none.
    2. Re:The real question is... by fireboy1919 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      They had this type of question on Star Trek once...why don't other people have eyes like LaForge's?

      I think we need to be more realistic: we haven't ever been able to produce anything that matches the quality of nature in terms of durability or usefulness.

      Sure, we can produce things that work faster, and sometimes with greater resolution, but often the benefit is minimal: power consumption is great, they break sooner, etc.

      And as far as anything that NATURE does, we haven't even come close: our eyes and brain work together to understand more about the world than anything that humans have produced.

      I doubt that these will get advanced enough. How would you like to go blind while driving because you get a little smog in your eyes? How would you like to deal with intense vertigo and headaches when your chip malfunctions and sends the wrong signals?

      How would you like to stay awake all night staring at white light because your chip is burnt out and constantly sending the same signal (even when you shut your eyes)?

      I'd rather not risk even 10 minutes of such possible conditions. My eyes work pretty well, unlike human hardware.

      --
      Mod me down and I will become more powerful than you can possibly imagine!
  9. implanted ads? by wattersa · · Score: 2, Funny

    Great, so the next big thing will be ad-supported bionic eyes. ("well, these people couldn't otherwise afford the procedure, so we have to recoup our development costs somewhere...") Instead of having popups block your screen, you can, frome time to time, have valuable product offers seamlessly integrated with your visual input! A nationwide increase in car crashes ensues...

  10. Great news! by zomB1kenoB · · Score: 0

    Now I don't have to worry about going blind from enjoying too much pron! I'll just get me a couple of these.
    But what to do about all this hair on my palms...

    --
    What Would Satan Do?
  11. I hope they improved the tech since the 1970's by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This has been around since the 1970's. The vision was incredible, even then. Something like 20-1 vision.

    The main problem with it was that when you focused in on something, it would produce a cheezy "Boop, boop, boop, boop, boop" sound effect.

  12. Yeah, but what OS does it run? by docbrown42 · · Score: 1, Flamebait

    Drooling /.'er want to know!

    I hope it's not a MS OS. Can you imagine the BSOD on one of these?

    --
    Ed Wedig
    Graphic design services
    docbrown.net
  13. us department of energy? by jkcity · · Score: 1

    "The project has received $9m funding from the US Department of Energy."

    ok I am not from the US, but this osund sot me like they woudl deal in research for stuff releated to energy, I might have that ll wrong though.

    so what does this have todo with them?

    should there money not be spent on enrgy research