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Stevie Wonder to Implant Eye Chip?
chocko sent us an article about Stevie Wonder's Eye Chip. Now normally a Stevie Wonder story probably wouldn't make it on Slashdot, but this is actually about him implanting a chip into his eye in order to try to gain some of his sight back. I just thought that was kinda cool. Update: 12/04 12:02 by H :Thanks to Chris Griffin for updating the story.
Thanks to BBC News Online, here.
Apparently the system only has 25 pixels - presumably in a 5x5 square. While such 'vision' will be a vast improvement over nothing, it sounds like the system is still in its early stages and is nowhere near mimicing conventional sight. It's a bit like the early cochlear implants in a way.
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There was a guy who had corneal replacement when he was middle aged. He could see when he was very young, but lost his sight later. So they did the corneal transplant and he could see, but it wasen't all perfect. His depth perception was ALL messed up. At the hospital on the 5th floor or higher he looked out the window and was asked what the distance was. He said "not far" remarking that he thought he could touch the ground with his hand. Soo the brain had to readjust. Eventually this guy (mabye not same guy movie is based off of) got really depressed. He sat in his house and was disgusted with how disorderly and dirty everything was. He had envisioned it all being perfect while being blind. He eventually committed suicide.
I really hope Stevie Wonder's procedure works well and that he regains some sight. Good luck and God bless dude.
I think the implant design has something to do with stimulating the optical nerve in a manner opposite of a CCD. I'm not sure about colors being visible, but I am sure for a blind person that even seeing objects in monochrome is a blessing indeed. They will still not be able to drive a car, but they may enjoy a greater standard of independent living.
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Gleepy the Hen. More intelligent than the average hen.
I'm worried that since he was not born w/ sight (at least I think), how would he react ? Vision would be so alien to him, that I don't know if he could adapt to it at his age. The brain hard-wires most of its connections early in life, with decreasing plasticity as the years go by..
I want to be able to see into Infra-red. I hope they design upgradibility into the cybernetic products though, so I can move to the latest model on a regular basis. It'd be a drag to upgrade to infrared now and then not be able to upgrade to 4D accelerated HDvision later.
I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?
A lot of people have missed this, but if you look at the link in the other article, the chip doesn't stay in.
:)
It isn't some kind of artificial vision replacement. Rather, AFAICT, it just stimulates the nerves to the point where they remember how to see again. Then the chip is removed.
Sorry. No Star Trek story here. You can go.
(however, the Star Trek technology might be next. I seem to remember a story about constructing an image by reading the neurons in a cat, or something. It worked, but the picture was lower res.
I think it'd be awesome if I could replace or add, say, a thermal view of my surroundings, or a clock... It'd involve being able to add, replace or superimpose "images" in the stream of data from the eyes to the brain. Of course, goggles would be a *lot* easier.
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This is great news for all of us, even the perfect sighted. I think that one of the obstacles to development in these arenas is that the people with the expertise in one field - imaging, robotics - are rarely trained in the fields of medicine. Biomedical Engineering has the potential for many great things, and I think we're just beginning to see what can be achieved when we start engineering our bodies.
Unless people start freaking out about "unnatural" modifications, of course. I am a little worried about that laws that will start to happen when this tech gets more advanced - it's very, very, very primitive right now - how about when you could get enhanced vision? Or strain-free screens to read off of? (via a direct digital connection!)
Sound far fetched? Maybe, but then again, we were all using gopher 6 years ago.
Not going to happen, you say? Icky? Maybe. Someone that's got modifications will have a _competitive advantage_ over you, and might learn better, or faster, or be able to do more.
Welcome to the borg - friendlier, happier, but definately where we're headed. I might not live to see it.. but who knows when nanotech gets off the ground to splice into nerves :).
Kudos!
..don't panic
Christopher Reeve has done way more for attracting attention (and $$) for research in neuron regeneration and spinal cord injuries than any number of scientists could!
A better article is at http://www.cnn.com/1999/ SHOWBIZ/Music/12/03/stevie.wonder/.
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And the robot says: "In the begining was man. Man created all things. Man, with his infinite skill, created machines
An Excite story explains this whole situation a lot better. Slashdot should really demand better citations.
It turns out Wonder has not made any public statements regarding the procedure. A tabloid reported that he told a congregation that he was planning on getting his site back, but the doctor that is running the clinic has said he has not made an apoitment. Besides, an examination would have to be done first to see if he is even a candidate. Still pretty cool even if Wonder is not planning the procedure.
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I'm just a young tike (still in high school) so...why is Stevie Wonder blind? I realize he was born that way...but what congenital affliction is this?
Also, hm. I really would like more information on this article. It seems to me that vision would be far too alien a sense for him; I've read cases like this. Hang on, let me find the book...
Okay. It's Oliver Sacks' book "The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat". It details probably about 20 cases Dr. Sacks, a noted neurologist, treated, got to know, and gained valuable insight from. (He's a heckuva writer--check out his books if you're interested in the brain and the mind that drives it.)
A man named Virgil (I believe it was--I can't find the book right now) was blind from the time he was a young child; he had an operation when he was 50 or 60 that restored his vision, and at first, he was able to see vibrantly, clearly, like a new window of existence reopened after many years.
He visited his childhood home, and even though he was like 2 or 3 when his vision went, he could see most clearly the things he remembered, such as a fence and a field, I believe. (Again, I can't find the book; please correct me if I'm wrong!;] )
However, when he returned back to his home in a city, it began to be harder and harder for him to use his sight confidently. He'd resort to closing his eyes and acting "blind" because he was the most confident this way--traffic rushing by him made him nervous and indecisive.
Eventually, due to a combination of psychological and physical factors, his vision deteriorated again. I don't know if he's still around or not, but it would be kinda cool to meet someone like that.
I dunno. It'd be interesting to find out how Stevie Wonder turns out. I'd HATE to have a chip in my eye. Contacts bother me enough.
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This brings up a kind of interesting allusion to Star Trek. I always thought Geordi's visor was pretty amazing. Not only did it cure his blindness, but it was like an entire set of military-type scopes: infra-red, night vision, all sorts of odd but useful things.
Once this technology that's going into Wonder gets refined to the point where it actually has a decent resolution, I can't imagine it would be that hard to implement a bunch of different sensors/cameras for it. In fact, they might even be able to develop some sort of (waterproof, hopefully, to prevent shorts) external connector, and actually create a visor like Geordi's =)
Looks like a piece of Star Trek technology could become a reality in our lifetimes, eh?
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"I personal[ly] think Unix is "superior" because on LSD it tastes like Blue." -- jbarnett
As others have mentioned, Stevie Wonder has never had eyesight. No matter what results the experiments bring, he will be unabled to measure them against a remembered standard.
He might see everything upside down, or in 2d or in shades of green, and to him that would seem like complete success. Heck, all he might see is a rotating Head of Rob Malda and he would give the thumbs up "Is that what a sunset looks like? It's beautiful!"
I wish him luck. Can you imagine your world suddenly expanding to include another sense?
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