Thursday, December 4, 2008

Bionic Eyes and Restoring Vision


A lot of people ask me if I am going to restore vision with my Bionic Eye. The answer is no, not right now but maybe later.

I am not restoring vision, I'm just modifying my prosthetic eye into a video camera with the same capabilities as a modern cell phone. I can stream the footage, save it to a hard-drive, or put it in my documentary film called Eye 4 an Eye.

Having one eye is almost as good as having two. Its not really that different except my squash game is a little off and you really have to check your blind spot carefully when you are changing lanes in traffic. I don't really need to restore any vision in my right eye....socket.

Here is a woman who lost vision completely and is getting sight restored. Its only rudimentary but its getting there.

Linda Moorfoot explains what its like:

"When I go to the grandkids' hockey game or soccer game I can see which direction the game is moving in. I can shoot baskets with my grandson, and I can see my granddaughter dancing across the stage. It's wonderful."

Check out an article about Linda and HER bionic eye here.

She uses a camera that is mounted to glasses. For many people who are blind, they have lost their eyes and need prosthetics for aeshetic reasons. What Steve Mann and I are working on could have applications for these people. And stay tuned for how Steve will help me watch 3D movies again with his cross eye-tap technology.

2 comments:

Martin Hauck said...

That's an awesome idea. Can't wait for the documentary.

I always thought it would be an interesting business to run to have individuals in remote/popular locations of the world with wireless webcams that could react to online user commands in the same sense of a first person video game. Virtual Tourism essentially. You could rent a tourgide in New York to walk into Tiffany's for 3 hours and beef up the experience of online shopping. The possibilities are endless.

What I'm wondering is if that has come up in conversation during your project? Seeing how your efforts and this idea closely cross over.

Thanks and good luck,

Martin

Rob Spence Bionic Documentary Maker said...

Hmmm, I am not planning on being a lifecaster - for me this is just another camera that I will use as frequently as any other camera -whether it be a cell phone or an HD model.

Part of the issue is, much like a cell phone, I don't want this thing in all day long. Just snap it on when I want to go "Bionic_Docmaker".

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