cochlear implant equivalent for the blind...

[browneyedgirl65]

Spotted this article this morning: Trials for 'bionic' eye implantsSounds like it works on the exact same principle as the cochlear implant (although I can't tell from this whether it destroys residual vision in order to do so). It does say it only applies to specific types of blindness

Comments

[jcortese]

Wow, that's really neat. It's got to be like CIs, where it's most useful for people who went deaf or blind as adults.

I wonder how much preprocessing is done on the signal, or what the equivalent to mapping is? It can't be able to process color information; I think that would be too fine and finicky for something like this.

Wow, thin display technology could really make this take off. And since the surgery involves laying it on a relatively flat surface, it might bepossible to get more coverage, as opposed to the cochlea, where you've got to twist around a tight spiral to insert it, past a bunch of bone. I still don't know how that's done; I cannot fathom for the lifeo fm e how that thing is inserted without seeing where you're going. I'd love to see one of the surgeries.

Ahhha

[saintbenis]

I think the blind would take this very well. One must keep in mind that Deafness is pretty much the only disability where the people who are disabled would actually say no i don't want to hear.

the blind dont have their own culture, language, etc. a blind person in france would think like a typical frenchmen communicate like one, etc. the deaf on the other hand have their own set of standards...i mean only deaf people would say OMG YOU GAINED SO MUCH WEIGHT!!!! WHAT HAPPENED!!?? just these kind of things.. i dunno

i dont see blind people wanting their kids to be blind..my mom was thrilled to find out im deaf.

just a thought

implants for the blind

[anonymous]

Thanks for sharing this with us! It will be exciting to see if the technology improves in the years to come.

Jamie

Re: implants for the blind

[anonymous]

There was a movie a few years ago called Second Sight and it was about a blind individual that through technology gained the ability to see. Well worth seeing the movie!!!

Also there is a company in California that has already developed the ability to help the blind see - www.2-sight.com It's amazing how technology can achieve so much

From a very happy Cochlear Implant User

[anonymous]

Hi, I was googling for info on cochlear implants and came across your blog. I, too, wonder if the bionic eye is the equivelent to CIs. Only I don't think it would bother me to have the CI destroy my residual hearing in order to hear. I've seen that it does work.

It's a different matter when it comes to destroying my eyesight. I would have to see if it does work.

Thanks. http://literallyblindsided.blogspot.com/