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vniow

macrumors G4
Original poster
Jul 18, 2002
10,266
1
I accidentally my whole location.
Vision Quest

A HALF CENTURY OF ARTIFICIAL-SIGHT RESEARCH HAS SUCCEEDED. AND NOW THIS BLIND MAN CAN SEE.

By Steven Kotler

I'M SITTING ACROSS FROM A BLIND MAN — CALL HIM PATIENT Alpha — at a long table in a windowless conference room in New York. On one end of the table there's an old television and a VCR. On the other end are a couple of laptops. They're connected by wires to a pair of homemade signal processors housed in unadorned gunmetal-gray boxes, each no bigger than a loaf of bread. In the corner stands a plastic ficus tree, and beyond that, against the far wall, a crowded bookshelf. Otherwise, the walls are white and bare. When the world's first bionic eye is turned on, this is what Patient Alpha will see.


Neato. :cool:

click me
 

medea

macrumors 68030
Aug 4, 2002
2,517
1
Madison, Wi
Resistence is futile!
but that is seriously an amazing article. we are capable of much more than most are willing to do.....yet
 

PCUser

macrumors regular
Mar 1, 2002
123
0
Dr. Distortion, how to do you come to the conclusion it's a "fictional story"? Just curious. I see nothing on the site (or it's parent site, http://www.wired.com/wired/current.html -- Wired Magazine) to suggest that. This is the cover story of the September 2002 edition of Wired Magazine.
 

e-coli

macrumors 68000
Jul 27, 2002
1,936
1,149
umm...i don't think that this is a "fictional short story".

pretty gosh darn amazing if you ask me.

There's a study going on at MIT right now where they're avtually growing nerve and brain tissue on a microchip. And what's even more amazing, is that the cells are actually interacting with the microprocessor.

amazing.
 

Moxiemike

macrumors 68020
Jan 1, 2002
2,437
0
Pittsburgh, PA
Ummm. macrumors has had a bionic eye long before this....
 

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Mr. Anderson

Moderator emeritus
Nov 1, 2001
22,568
6
VA
bionic eyes will be great, considering you'd be able to eventually get them in infrared and ultra violet - then the true x-ray eyes option package....people with perfectly good eyes would want the surgery and eyeglasses, I know I would if it was possible - seeing in the dark.....

D
 

scem0

macrumors 604
Jul 16, 2002
7,028
1
back in NYC!
Now, think about the potential for these eyes.... In the future, bionic eyes will be able to see better then regular eyes, so we might all have bionic eyes eventually.
 

sparkleytone

macrumors 68020
Oct 28, 2001
2,307
0
Greensboro, NC
if presented with all the options brought forth by this article, i guarantee that the only accepted way to give artificial sight would be the final method, which actually functions with the damaged or nonfunctioning eye rather than the brain. actually tunneling through the skull and even thru brain tissue would not be an accepted course of action when an alternative exists.
 

cb911

macrumors 601
Mar 12, 2002
4,128
4
BrisVegas, Australia
that's amazing that they can do that sort of stuff.

that first page had me a bit confused though, then i finally found the links to the next page.:p
 

Dr. Distortion

macrumors regular
May 2, 2002
159
0
Eindhoven, the Netherlands
Originally posted by PCUser
Dr. Distortion, how to do you come to the conclusion it's a "fictional story"? Just curious. I see nothing on the site (or it's parent site, http://www.wired.com/wired/current.html -- Wired Magazine) to suggest that. This is the cover story of the September 2002 edition of Wired Magazine.

Well, it doesn't seem quite like an academical publication... more like a sensationalized story imho. Must be the American style of bringing information to the masses...
 

PCUser

macrumors regular
Mar 1, 2002
123
0
With us Americans, everything has to sensationalized, otherwise we don't care. :) If it doesn't catch people's attention in an instant, we won't watch or read it....
 

Dr. Distortion

macrumors regular
May 2, 2002
159
0
Eindhoven, the Netherlands
Originally posted by PCUser
With us Americans, everything has to sensationalized, otherwise we don't care. :) If it doesn't catch people's attention in an instant, we won't watch or read it....

Well, you know what they say about us ppl from the Netherlands... always sober and to the point... ;)

-Dr. D.
 

King Cobra

macrumors 603
Mar 2, 2002
5,403
0
I remember seeing something like this a few weeks back on the All News Channel (which got the boot on the hour of October) with probably the exact same setup. It certainly takes some getting used to though.

(1) See marcsiry's post.
(2) People are used to looking with their eyes and by not moving their skulls. This automatic "eye" requires you to turn your neck so many degrees to view something. Moving your eyes would not help.
(3) PRICE! How much does all this cost? I'm no expert on technology prices, but the surgery, training, and the technology involved has to cost at least $5000, if not, more. You have to be ridiculously rich to afford something like this. Also, is this technology rainproof, or extreme temperature proof? What happens if one of the cords break? Or if you don't see where you are going and bump into a person in rush mode? It's ironically possible.

For a start, this will IMO pave the way towards future and more advanced technology.
 
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