Bionic eyes to be a thing in the next decade? Possibly. Boffins mark sensor-density breakthrough

Scientists at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology claim to have developed a robotic eye they say mimics the equivalent human organism and even out-performs it on some measures. Zhiyong Fan and his team developed a hemispherical artificial retina containing light-sensitive nanowires made from perovskite to mimic …

[Roger Kynaston]

We have the technology

I wish they would remake the Six Million Dollar Man!

[Jan 0]

Re: We have the technology

Maybe call it the "Quarter of a Billion Dollar Man" to account for inflation.

More interestingly, what is the liquid metal in the "wires"? Mercury? Gallium? Surely not Rubidium! The design is interesting, but how are they proposing to interface it with the rest of the brain? I think I'd prefer an external camera with a supercomputer that whispers in my ear: E.g. "Just to the right of you there's a really cute guy, they look interested." or "The coffee cup is on the table two inches in front of your middle finger." I think I could adapt to that, without having dangerous metals in my skull.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: We have the technology

"I think I'd prefer an external camera with a supercomputer that whispers in my ear: E.g. "Just to the right of you there's a really cute guy, they look interested." or "The coffee cup is on the table two inches in front of your middle finger." I think I could adapt to that, without having dangerous metals in my skull."

You might enjoy this Wired article from almost 2 decades ago.

https://www.wired.com/2002/09/vision/

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

[Kevin McMurtrie]

Re: We have the technology

The links provided by El Reg say, "eutectic gallium–indium alloy." Sounds like galinstan.

[Suricou Raven]

Re: We have the technology

The brain interface part is the only essential new element. You can do the rest with a camera mounted on a headband and a wearable computer. It's just the brain interface is really hard to engineer.

The only convenience nature has given us in that task is that the visual cortex is easily accessible to surgeons. Once a suitable device makes it out of the laboratory and into regular the use, the actual installation is practically a routine procedure already. Just remove a section of skull at the back, carefully pull aside a membrane, and there's your target ready for probing. It's not entirely safe, but it's as safe as neurosurgery gets.

[J27]

Bionic ears exist now, so this isn't that far a stretch.

[Anonymous Coward]

We call them 'hearing aids'

[Cynic_999]

No, we call them "cochlear implants"

[SkippyBing]

Pardon?

[Charles 9]

They're talking about implants that stimulate the cochlea (auditory nerve). Hearing aids, for example, are useless if your ear canals are totally shut or if the problem is the nerve itself. Implants provide a potential solution even in those conditions.

[dbayly]

Who turned the lights out ?

is this article claiming that the eye can detect less than 86 photons /second? Surely not ...

[DrBobK]

Re: Who turned the lights out ?

See the incredibly beautiful study of Hecht, Shlaer, and Pirenne (1942) Energy, quanta and vision. J. Gen. Physiol. 20 819-840. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2142545/ Dark adapted human rod cells require between 5 and 8 quanta on average to produce a neural signal. After the effects of absorption by parts of the eye between the outside world and the retina this corresponds to an ability of the humans tested to detect between 54 and 148 quanta (i.e. that's all you need to see a light under optimal conditions - the integration time is about 100ms, so all the quanta have to arrive within 100ms for optimal performance).

Here is the relevant section of the paper's abstract:

"With these three corrections, the range of 54 to 148 quanta at the cornea becomes as an upper limit 5 to 14 quanta actually absorbed by the retinal rods. 3. This small number of quanta, in comparison with the large number of rods (500) involved, precludes any significant two quantum absorptions per rod, and means that in order to produce a visual effect, one quantum must be absorbed by each of 5 to 14 rods in the retina. 4. Because this number of individual events is so small, it may be derived from an independent statistical study of the relation between the intensity of a light flash and the frequency with which it is seen. Such experiments give values of 5 to 8 for the number of critical events involved at the threshold of vision."

Your truly,

A Vision Scientist.

[dbayly]

Re: Who turned the lights out ?

Thank you for an illuminating response. :-)

[DrBobK]

Re: Who turned the lights out ?

Just to clarify my summary of the experiment, each rod only needs a single photon to initiate the signalling cascade, but we need between 5 and 8 rods to be activated before we have a conscious experience of a flash. The human visual system is pretty remarkable.

[jake]

Re: Who turned the lights out ?

Thank you for helping to shed some light on the subject.

With references, no less. This round's on me.

[Efer Brick]

I want optical zoom, 1tb storage, infra red, night viz, 5g and to be able to see round corners

[jake]

You forgot ...

... blockchain in the cloud.

[Anonymous Coward]

...and to be able to see round corners

All iPhone users can see round corners already. I think, perhaps, you want to be able to see around corners.

(Mine's the one with Pendatry for Dummies in the pocket.)

[Neoc]

I think you mean "Pedantry".

[Anonymous Coward]

Aw shit. :D

[Sgt_Oddball]

Wonderful development in tech

I can see its got good potential.... But

Does anyone else feel slightly nervous about the idea of having eyes that might need a firmware update?

Just saying..

[IGotOut]

Re: Wonderful development in tech

It's fine. It's going to fall under the IoT banner, so an update is going to be close to zero

[Neoc]

Re: Wonderful development in tech

Surely it'd be "wetware"...