That's really awesome news. It's amazing how technology for helping the visually impaired is advancing. The eyes (and related nerves) are so complicated and fragile... it's really exciting that we're learning how (to some still-limited degree) replace them if they are beyond repair.
... And also it makes all those robot kissing scenes in "Record of a Yokohama Shopping Trip" make more sense. :P There was even a camera that had a bit that fit into the android main character's mouth to transfer information, and it looked almost exactly like that photo, sans the glasses... :)
I think it is great that our technology might just be able to enable folks to see who are blind.And there are other devices that help other kinds of disabilities.
Does this only work for people who had vision at some point in their lives and can remember that? Or is it supposed to give sight to patients for the first time in their lives?
No, literally, I'm not sure I believe it. Pics or didn't happen, so they say.
On the other hand, it does jive with one established brain behavior- the brain seems to be surprisingly receptive to having some of its nerves repurposed, proving its amazing plasticity by adapting to unconventional interfaces. Its just that most of the previous examples have involved surgical interfaces with the nerves, instead of just external stimulation. I guess this might just go to show that, functionally, there's no difference between direct and external stimulation.
If it works and can be used for long periods, I think that I would prefer an invasive implant to having an electrode hanging out of my mouth. Even so, it's a very tasty piece of tech.
@The Curse of Millhaven: Hopefully they would be able to come up with a less intrusive version, like a wireless model that can be stuck to the tongue without the big cord hanging out.
@Tomb: R.O.A.C.H.: That would be nigh impossible. The eye and mouth don't share analogous parts, and many of the parts the eye doesn't have (some sort of tongue, larynx, etc.) are crucial to talking.
That said, if you manage to do, that would be many kinds of awesome.
08/16/09
... And also it makes all those robot kissing scenes in "Record of a Yokohama Shopping Trip" make more sense. :P There was even a camera that had a bit that fit into the android main character's mouth to transfer information, and it looked almost exactly like that photo, sans the glasses... :)
08/16/09
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BTW, didn't Lord John Worfin do something eerily similar in Buckaroo Banzai?
-Kle.
08/16/09
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08/15/09
No, literally, I'm not sure I believe it. Pics or didn't happen, so they say.
On the other hand, it does jive with one established brain behavior- the brain seems to be surprisingly receptive to having some of its nerves repurposed, proving its amazing plasticity by adapting to unconventional interfaces. Its just that most of the previous examples have involved surgical interfaces with the nerves, instead of just external stimulation. I guess this might just go to show that, functionally, there's no difference between direct and external stimulation.
08/15/09
08/15/09
08/15/09
08/15/09
08/15/09
That said, if you manage to do, that would be many kinds of awesome.