I hope this technology pans out. My brother is quadriplegic, but still has sensation in his hands. This would be perfect for him. It'll probably be a decade or more before it's commercialized, but hopefully within his lifetime he'll walk again.
I remember an article in the 1980s about a wearable computer on a man's belt with batteries, and he had some wires to his brain to help him see shapes, but I can no longer find the reference or pics. It's amazing to see the progress if you compare the pics of the large device back then to the things they are doing now. That and the discoveries and inventions in computing, chip manufacture, cognitive science and biology that are coming together in so many ways. When I watched the film 'Transcendence' this past year, along with having been a fan of Kronenberg and his movie 'eXistenZ', I really started to think about the overlap and hybridization of technologies: implants, wearable tech, AI, CI, CRISPR, biopunk, VR, AR, etc... I can see a dystopic 'Bladerunner' style future of cyborgs, modified humans and crazy disease and organisms. On the other hand, I can see humanity coasting his way into accepting the weirdness, and the crazy future it will bring.
In the meantime, I hope many who cannot, will get to partake in walking, seeing and living longer due to these discoveries and inventions.
"A bionic eye implant is now allowing a blind man to see the outlines of his wife after 10 years in darkness.
"The implant, called a retinal prosthesis, consists of a small electronic chip that is placed at the back of the eye to send visual signals directly into the optic nerve. This bypasses the damaged cells in the man's retina.
"The bionic eye doesn't have enough electrodes to recreate the details of human faces, but for the first time since he lost his vision, the man can make out the outlines of people and things, and walk without a cane."
I meant a specific reference from the 1980s. I know of the new research. I had found an article with photos and details on the surgical procedure. Thanks anyway.
Not quite, the sensor in the brain is pretty primitive. It's just best picked 96 neurons as opposed to many hundreds really required - and it didn't have a few years to train yet either. They are likely using excess computational capacity to denoise and predict higher order signals from neurons that are connected to the lucky 96.
