Can an electronic chip enable people who were born blind to see?
If you ask Elon Musk, the answer is a definitive yes.
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Musk's company Neuralink has received FDA approval to conduct trials of a device called Blindsight on human subjects as well. In an announcement published by the company, it is already seeking its first trial participants.
The device consists of cameras connected to a brain implant, which interfaces with the region of the brain responsible for vision.
In this way, it would replace the function of the human eye — and could enable even those who were born blind to see.
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From a broader perspective, camera-based vision could theoretically enable sight in infrared, ultraviolet, with zoom for long-distance viewing, and more.
If we see such applications deployed in the real world, it would represent a genuine leap forward in human-machine interfaces.
Not sure you've been playing Cyberpunk 2077 lately, but the people working on this device almost certainly have — perhaps a bit too much 😉.