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Need A New Retina? Look No Further

Posted by simoniker on from the g'kar-deluxe-model dept.

wap writes "Restoring sight to the blind is a Bibical miracle, a sign of divine powers. Now it is being tested at the Boston Retinal Implant Project, with some very limited success, according to Technology Review. They only have fifteen electrodes implanted, but it's a start. Great quotes: 'The eye doesn't like stuff inside it, that's why it doesn't have a zipper.' Will artificial eyes and retinal replacements someday be as good as good human eyes?"

8 of 310 comments (clear)

  1. As good??? by Vo0k · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Heh, they will be 100 times better.
    Extended spectrum, nightvision, antiblinder, zoom, the possiblities are unlimited!

    --
    Anagram("United States of America") == "Dine out, taste a Mac, fries"
    1. Re:As good??? by catwh0re · · Score: 5, Funny
      I'm imaginging bad webcam quality eyes. Then people quoting back and forth, "oh you got crap logitech eyes, you should have bought iSight eyes"....

      5 months later it'll be deemed that our eye sight can be tapped under the PATRIOT act and similar.

    2. Re:As good??? by cs02rm0 · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Aren't people using retinas for developing biometric identification? I wonder what the consequences of this would be ...DoS a system with a bunch of people with the same retinal scans?

      I know with the iris they can measure the amount it constantly expands and contracts by to verify it's not a contact lens or similar. I presume though when they reach the stage of replacing the whole eye they'd be able to even fake that.

  2. Human Augmentation by Devar · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I'd love to keep one eye, probably my 'good' eye, after testing to see which is the best, and modify the other to give retinal overlay data. You could look at an object and it would draw an overlay and data on it. Also, the ability to turn this overlay on or off! How about zoom, or freeze frame capabilites all without having your eyes look any different than they would naturally.
    I know it's a long way off, but that kind of visual enhancement would be awesome. And expensive. And I want it. :)

    --
    It's a Bagel.
  3. You mean DIGITAL zoom by caitsith01 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    999X DIGITAL ZOOM! Actually creates data out of nothing WHILE YOU ARE ZOOMING! Who needs those fancy optics and lenses and whotnot?! DIGITAL is part of the WORLD OF TOMORROW!

    Seriously, though, without an extra lens how could it be anything but 'digital zoom' (i.e. 'magnification')?

    On the other hand, most people nowadays appear to be dumb enough to buy anything so long as it is digital or contains the prefix i- or e-, so maybe we can just market these as "eYes : now with DIGITAL zoom."

    --
    Read Pynchon.
  4. Legal issues with artificial eyes... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    The problem with having a camera for an eye is that if they got good, they most certainly would cause enromous legal issues. You could conceivably record your own sight, which would run afoul of various copyright, privacy, and wire-tap laws in the US and abroad. More so if you broadcast them, or if security/access control was in place.

  5. Only for people who could see at some time by Jeff+Kelly · · Score: 5, Informative

    Just some clarification.

    These devices won't restore eyesight to people who were born blind. Only those who, at one time in their life, actually could see will profit from such technical replacements.

    When you are born you are nearly blind. It takes four to six years for the visual cortex to develop fully. After the age of six this development stops and thats the end of it.

    If you are born blind then the cortex will not be trained and no magic eye surgery will restore your vision, because after the age of six the visual cortex will no longer adapt to the new situation.

    Even if your eyes are restored to 20/20 vision you will not see a thing because your vision center doesn't know how to interpret the pictures. So these kinds of surgery will only help people which went blind and not those who were born blind. (Still cool stuff)

    BTW. It is the same with deafness.

    1. Re:Only for people who could see at some time by jstave · · Score: 5, Interesting
      I read an article (I believe it was in Science News) indicating that blind-from-birth people actually used their visual cortex to process sounds. Basically we use it to build up our model of the world around us.

      I'm not saying it could be retrained to process visual information after a lifetime of other use, I just thought its cool how the brain can effectively rewire itself. Kinda like detaching the speakers from your computer and having the sound card automatically start processing graphics (or something)