The Bionic Eye

The Road to Artifical Vision

1929
German neurologist Otfird Foerster electrically stimulates the visual cortex of a human volunteer's brain causing his subject to “see” small points of light.

1968
Giles S. Brindley of the University of Cambridge implants 80 electrodes under the scalp of a 52-year-old woman who had gone blind. When he applies electricity, the woman sees spots of light.

2004
Arman Tanguay and his colleague Noelle Stiles conduct the first experiment to implant a digital camera in an eye, replacing a dog's natural lens with a glass lens and a sensor.

2010
USC Researchers conduct the first human trial of a implantable digital camera connected to a 256-electrode retinal implant.

2014
The introduction of a 1,000-electrode implant allows blind volunteers to recognize faces and read half-inch type for the first time.