[Nfbf-l] Bionic eye promises vision for the blind - The Monash Vision system

[Alan Dicey]

Bionic eye promises vision for the blind.
Monash University is preparing to launch technology that should allow blind 
users to make out objects and other people.
By Oliver Milman, Friday 7 June 2013.
World-leading technology that could help restore vision to a large number of 
Australia's 45,000 blind people is set to emerge from a Melbourne 
university.
The Monash Vision system, developed by a team of 60 at Monash University, 
allows blind users to make out objects and other people with the aid of a 
brain implant that connects wirelessly to a camera which can be housed in a 
pair of glasses or even on the end of the user's finger.

The camera captures and sends images via a digital processor to a chip 
implanted under the skull at the back of the head. This chip stimulates the 
visual cortex via electrodes, allowing the brain to interpret the images.

The technology will allow blind people to see objects as a series of dots or 
solid colours. Facial recognition software lets the user identify other 
people, while other bespoke software, such as technology allowing users to 
recognise and negotiate stairs, is compatible with the system.

Monash researchers expect to release a prototype, which will be tested 
before being trialled on a blind person, in the first half of next year. 
It's hoped that the trial, if successful, will lead to the widespread use of 
the technology within a decade.

Project director Prof Arthur Lowery told Guardian Australia the technology 
was a "major breakthrough" from previous sight-giving innovations.

"It's the most advanced system created as it allows people to recognise 
different objects and colours," he said. "It means people can go into a 
meeting and know who is there and how many of them there are. People can 
venture outside because they can see trees."

Lowery said the sight provided would be similar to an advanced type of radar 
and was based suited to completely blind people.

"If you have some residual vision, it's probably of less use to you," he 
said.
"You wouldn't lose the vision you had but this is only presenting a few 
hundred pixels and most people with residual vision have more than that. We 
are aiming at people who are completely blind and have brains which are 
hardwired to understand what objects are, rather people who have never seen 
anything at all."

Monash Vision was rapidly established with the aid of an $8m government 
grant to create the 'Cochlear for vision', referring to the famed Australian 
invention which has dominated the hearing aid market.

The challenge was set by then prime minister Kevin Rudd's 2020 gathering in 
2008.

Another team, Bionic Vision Australia, was given $42m to work on a solution 
which focused on replacing defective retinas.

"We thought of a different approach, one that involved a cortical implant 
into the back of the head," said Lowery. "You don't need eyeballs for this. 
If you have optic nerve damage or glaucoma this can work as it bypasses the 
optical system. It gives hope to people who have had serious damage to their 
eyes."

The project team includes Mark Armstrong, an industrial designer who created 
the concept for the torch at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games and was a leading 
designer for Cochlear.

"Mark has been a perfect fit for us because this concept is actually quite 
similar to Cochlear," said Lowery.

"But rather than a microphone, you have a camera at the front end. The 
camera could be anywhere - it could be at end of your finger, where you can 
scan things like your mind's eye, or you could have dark spectacles or a 
Bluetooth headset.

"The final users of this want something that doesn't stand out. The whole 
reason for assistive technology is to allow people to do many things that 
fully  sighted people can. Want something that's not obtrusive."

Source URL:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jun/07/bionic-eye-vision-for-blind

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With Best Regards,
God Bless,
Alan
Miami, Florida
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