bionics

Bionic eye may restore sight to the blind

Electronic retinal implants that can help certain visually impaired people see better are getting closer to reality with a new MIT prototype (PDF).

Engineered eyes a la Blade Runner remain a long way off. But by replacing the function of retinal cells, the implants could help provide a degree of basic vision to those afflicted with retinitis pigmentosa or age-related macular degeneration, major causes of blindness.

Users would wear special glasses fitted with a small camera that relays image data to a titanium-encased chip mounted on the outside surface of the eyeball. The chip would then fire an electrode array under the retina to stimulate the optic nerve. The glasses would also wirelessly transmit power to coils surrounding the eyeball.

MIT has been working on retinal implants for 20 years as part of the Boston Retinal Implant Project. About 10 years ago, researchers tested the electrodes on six blind patients, who reported seeing cloud-like images when stimulated.

MIT scientists led by John Wyatt, an electrical engineering professor, want to test their new prototype on patients within three years.

The implants have been successfully placed in pigs for as long as 10 months without damage to the electronics, according to MIT.

About 20 teams worldwide are working to realize the dream of eye implants that could work as well as cochlear implants for the hearing-impaired. But the delicate structures of the eye, as well as engineering challenges, have made for slow progress.

"To create a bionic eye is equivalent to trying to create a television as compared with a radio," Nigel Lovell, a professor at the University of New South Wales collaborating with Australian groups to create a bionic eye, says in this video. "It's orders of magnitude more complex."

One issue researchers must tackle is where to place the electrodes. The Australian group would place them on top of the retina, while MIT's approach is to place them beneath the retina. MIT says that reduces the risk of retinal tearing and requires less invasive surgery.

What might early bionic vision look like? Very low-res.… Read more

Superhuman vision may be on the horizon

Contact lenses have traditionally been engineered to help the visually impaired see the world around them more clearly--to attain perfect, or close to perfect, vision.

But why not super vision? Why not a lens that could superimpose holographic driving control panels over a pilot's otherwise normal view? Enable Web surfing on the go? Provide a virtual world for gamers that covers their entire field of vision instead of just a plasma screen?

Engineers at the University of Washington have been asking just that as they manufacture first-gen versions of the bionic eye in the form of contact lenses with an imprinted electronic circuit and lights.

"Conventional contact lenses are polymers formed in specific shapes to correct faulty vision," writes Babak A. Parviz, an associate professor at UW who heads a multi-disciplinary group on electronics in contact lenses, in the September 2009 issue of IEEE's Spectrum. "To turn such a lens into a functional system, we integrate control circuits, communication circuits, and miniature antennas into the lens using custom-built optoelectronic components. Those components will eventually include hundreds of LEDs, which will form images in front of the eye, such as words, charts, and photographs."… Read more

Hydraulic hand promises Hulk handshakes

Injured soldiers and people with disabilities might one day benefit from a hydraulic hand that doubles finger strength. Scientists at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory say a "mesofluidic" hand could be used to remotely disarm explosives and manipulate IEDs.

Mesofluidics is the study of applying pea-size hydraulics to applications requiring significant power in a limited space.

So far, the team at the Tennessee laboratory has developed an artificial finger made up of 25 moving parts. It can deliver 20 pounds of pinch force, about double that of a human finger, while remaining lightweight and … Read more

Elephant amputee gets permanent prosthetic leg

One of the best things about this job is getting to share stories that are often totally friggin' awesome. This is one of those stories.

It doesn't start happily, though. Motala is a 48-year old former working elephant from Thailand (she moved large trees for a living). In 1999, while wandering in the forest looking for food on her lunch break, she accidentally stepped on a land mine left over from the Burmese-Thai war. The mine destroyed her left front foot and most of the leg.

Though her owners tried to save the leg, it was eventually amputated below the knee. In 2006, she got a temporary prothesis to help her learn to walk on what would be a more permanent artificial leg.

This week, Motala was fitted for that leg in Thailand, according to the conservation group Friends of the Asian Elephant. It's a state-of-the-art upgrade to the temporary prothesis she's had for the last three years. Early reports show she's taking to it well, which is fantastic (watch the video after the jump). Here's hoping Motala lives a normal, long life in her retirement. … Read more

Six video game trailers you should be watching

Last week we gave gamers plenty of reasons to be excited about the month of May's anticipated releases. Now we're providing video sneak peeks at some of the latest in digital interactive entertainment.

We've got the latest trailer from The Conduit, a first-person-shooter built from the ground up exclusively for the Nintendo Wii. Also for the Wii is Let's Tap, a title that offers a brand-new way of interacting with games. You control Let's Tap by doing just that, tapping right in front of your Wii remote.

The unbelievably realistic graphics in Fight Night Round 4 … Read more

This week in Crave: Skivvies, Macs, and fake eyeballs

Sure, PMA was lots of fun, but there was plenty of other stuff going on here at Crave this week. Here's some of the best and some of the worst.

We took a look at the new 24-inch iMacs from Apple--and liked what we saw.

We brought you news of "trashy" lingerie made from recycled materials. We won't tell if you click.

Strangely, it seems Amazon wants to help the iPhone be the Kindle killer with its own Kindle app. It works, but there's some strangeness.

We can rebuild him: Meet the quasi-bionic eye camera. … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 923: Slumdog smell-ionaire

A company says it has made a virtual reality helmet that will give you sights, sounds, temperature, and even smell. Which makes us wonder if that's a good thing. Would you want to see movies with smell? We also talk about a new Internet TV box that's 50 bucks and carries major studio movies and TV shows. Is it the one?

Listen now: Download today's podcast EPISODE 923

Kumo coming? Live Search headed for overhaul, rebranding http://arstechnica.com/microsoft/news/2009/03/live-search-rebranding-is-coming-will-it-be-kumo.ars

Amazon offers e-books on Apple devices http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10187752-93.html … Read more

Artist envisions turning fake eye into bionic eye-cam

Three years after losing her left eye in a car accident, San Franciscan Tanya Vlach wants to make her artificial eye more useful: She's planning to put a video camera in her eye socket with the goal of having a bionic eye.

Asked in an e-mail what her inspiration is, Vlach wrote:

The Bionic Woman and maybe Bladerunner! Ever since I lost my eye I would fantasize about having a bionic eye. So I did research and I realized that as technology becomes increasingly smaller it seemed doable to engineer a miniature video camera small enough to put inside … Read more

Far out technology for the geek in all of us

Like many of you, I'm a geek, and it extends well beyond my interest in technology. I still read an occasional science fiction novel and look forward to the release of superhero and James Bond movies.

Lately, I've been wondering how close we are to achieving some of the scientific "miracles" that had previously belonged solely to the realm of science fiction. Advances in nanotechnology, biotechnology, and other fields are certainly making lots of exciting things possible in the laboratory, but that's just the beginning.

What I'm interested in is early academic, defense, medical, or even hobbyist applications. Remember, that's where computing and communications started, and look where we are now.

Here are six off the top of my head. And yes, some of them are out there, but my goal was to leapfrog all the usual stuff, like virtual reality, robotics, and the like, which I've written about previously. Some of it may surprise you.… Read more

Wii virtual console release for this week--'Super Turrican' stands alone

To say that the Virtual Console is "falling off" is an understatement. It's now been more than a month straight of less than three releases per week.

Super Turrican (1993, Super Nintendo, 800 Wii points): From Factor 5 came Super Turrican, a 2D platformer that reminded us a whole lot of Mega Turrican. Also, you'll find the addition of a grappling arm in Super Turrican, an homage to the game Bionic Commando--a classic title that you'll be able to play on Xbox Live and the PlayStation Network when it's released as Bionic Commando Rearmed. … Read more