Star Trek did it again: Predicting a Real World Innovation -The Visor

[Timelord79 (he/him)]

And here it is, the real world visor with a device looking similar to glasses connected to a chip implantet in the optic nerve of a bilnd man giving him back some vision.

This is so awesome!

http://rt.com/usa/195296-bionic-eye-recepient-sees/

 

[Silvercrest]

Re: Star Trek did it again: Predicting a Real World Innovation -The Vi

It is awesome, but Trek didn't make any groundbreaking predictions here. If a TV franchise needs to get credit, make it "The Six Million Dollar Man."

 

[Timelord79 (he/him)]

Re: Star Trek did it again: Predicting a Real World Innovation -The Vi

Yeah, Trek didn't invent eye implants, but in this case I think it's closer to the VISOR in concept than anything else I've seen.

 

[Trekker4747]

Re: Star Trek did it again: Predicting a Real World Innovation -The Vi

If I'm not mistaken this technology, or technology similar to it, has been in development and in very, very basic use -though not in any real practical sense- for quite some time now. The last time I saw something like this the "glasses" the person wore was probably equivalent to wearing a Virtual Boy on you.

So, clearly, technology is refined and miniaturized but it seems it's very far away from Geordi's "VISOR." (Which for our purposes we'll assume gives Geordi normal vision. It's said it scans the entire EM spectrum, which begs the question on why it can't be restricted to the visible light part of the spectrum.)

The article and accompanying video aren't very clear on what the patient is actually "seeing." But it seems to me he's not getting an actual video-view of the world but rather flashes of light/darkness he has to interpret in a useful manner.

Nor is it really clear on how blind the patient was. It's simplistic to think of being blind as being "seeing blackness" when there's a wide range of being blind. It's possible to "see" but the visual data the person is getting isn't useful, something like having 20/200+ vision. Such a person is considered blind and needs aids in order to interact with the world. (Granted, such people are usually considered "legally blind.")

Now, this is certainly remarkable and a step in the direction of bionic eyes or prosthetic that gives someone vision but calling this a "VISOR" or a "Bionic Eye" seems a stretch since those devices gave the user actual visual images and, in fact, enhanced vision.

But, again, this is remarkable and clearly should hold promise for people in the future in regaining their vision in some manner or another if not completely.

 

[Metryq]

Re: Star Trek did it again: Predicting a Real World Innovation -The Vi

The article and accompanying video aren't very clear on what the patient is actually "seeing." But it seems to me he's not getting an actual video-view of the world but rather flashes of light/darkness he has to interpret in a useful manner.

That's what I thought, although the article claims:

the System helped subjects: identify the location or movement of objects and people; recognize large letters, words, or sentences

That last bit is very significant. It suggests that some sort of raster is being formed, and not merely "twitching frog leg" shots of stimulation to the optic nerve.

This vision system sounds a lot like the one depicted in the movie BLIND DATE, with Joseph Bottoms (not the one with Bruce Willis; IMDb lists a couple other BLIND DATEs, too). Sci-fi fans might recognize Joseph Bottoms as Charlie Pizer, the excitable co-pilot of the Palomino from Disney's THE BLACK HOLE. The movie also features Keir Dullea (David Bowman from 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY), Kirstie Alley (Saavik from STAR TREK II: THE WRATH OF KHAN), and Marina Sirtis (Troi from TNG) as a hooker.

If I'm remembering correctly, the vision system in BLIND DATE employed ultrasound, and gave the user a view of the world something like a computer vector image—all edges with no real surface detail. The unit was disguised as a portable music player, thus giving it a passing resemblance to the wired box seen in the article above. Thankfully, the filmmakers had the user experiment with his prosthetic in various ways, as the rest of this "thriller" is not terribly gripping.

 

[Trekker4747]

Re: Star Trek did it again: Predicting a Real World Innovation -The Vi

Yeah, I suppose it could be something along those lines. But, again, the video and article aren't very clear on what it is the user is seeing. I think it says the image he's getting is only a handful of pixels which isn't very much to go with when forming a coherent image. 5x5 pixels is the most you would need to coherently form letters in a very, very crude and basic "font."

I wish the articles and videos had made it more clear, maybe with a rendered image, of what it is the user is seeing. But I didn't get the impression he's entirely getting a good enough look at the world to distinguish much past light/darkness inorder to be able to navigate. And that *could* be used to perhaps form letters but may requiring a special kind of reading device that'd make images he can see. (I.E. he couldn't just pick up any book and read it, he'd need perhaps a Kindle with a special program on it providing a typeface he can see.)

Again, the technology here is certainly remarkable and is a thunderous first-step on the road to artificial eyes and/or restoring sight to people who are blind or have severely disabled vision. I mean, the first prosthetic for blind people certainly wasn't going to instantly give people 4K UHD vision with graphical overlays they can use to check their e-mail and get weather reports.

But I think saying this device is giving this man anything close to the prosthetics in The Bionic Man/TNG or his "sight" back is overstating things. It's giving him something, but something he still has to interpret into something useful in order to navigate and he still likely needs other aids (cane, dog, another person) in order to be able to completely navigate safely and to interact with the world.

Still, a remarkable device and it'll be fascinating to see what it provides in 5, 10 or even 15 years.