HardwareElon Musk goes all Star Trek as his sight-giving Blindsight brain implant gets FDA ‘breakthrough’ clearanceWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
HardwareElon Musk goes all Star Trek as his sight-giving Blindsight brain implant gets FDA ‘breakthrough’ clearanceWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
(Image credit: Neuralink)
According to Musk, theNeuralinkdevice is designed not only to restore vision to those who have lost it, but even enable someone blind from birth to see for the first time.
The Blindsight device from Neuralink will enable even those who have lost both eyes and their optic nerve to see.Provided the visual cortex is intact, it will even enable those who have been blind from birth to see for the first time.To set expectations correctly, the vision… https://t.co/MYLHNcPrw6 pic.twitter.com/RAenDpd3fxSeptember 17, 2024
The Blindsight device from Neuralink will enable even those who have lost both eyes and their optic nerve to see.Provided the visual cortex is intact, it will even enable those who have been blind from birth to see for the first time.To set expectations correctly, the vision… https://t.co/MYLHNcPrw6 pic.twitter.com/RAenDpd3fxSeptember 17, 2024
“The Blindsight device from Neuralink will enable even those who have lost both eyes and their optic nerve to see. Provided the visual cortex is intact, it will even enable those who have been blind from birth to see for the first time,” Musk said in an X post announcing the FDA decision.
The FDA’s “breakthrough” status is applied to experimental medical devices that provide treatment or diagnosis of life-threatening conditions with a view to speeding up development and review of devices currently under development.
Exactly what Blindisght will be capable of isn’t clear. The basics involve a microelectrode array embedded in the visual cortex and stimulating neurons, an approach than in itself isn’t new. However, Musk did have the following to say:
“To set expectations correctly, the vision will be at first be low resolution, like Atari graphics, but eventually it has the potential be better than natural vision and enable you to see in infrared, ultraviolet or even radar wavelengths, like Geordi La Forge.”
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Neuralink has reportedly been making advances in terms of electrode density. But even an old Atari 2600 runs at a resolution of 30,000 pixels. So, there’s a long way to go just to have Atari-quality eyesight.
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Best CPU for gaming: The top chips from Intel and AMD.Best gaming motherboard: The right boards.Best graphics card: Your perfect pixel-pusher awaits.Best SSD for gaming: Get into the game ahead of the rest.
Moreover, giving sight to someone blind from birth presents a whole different problem,as TechCrunch explains:
“People who have been blind from birth will not have developed the biological capacity for seeing through their eyes, meaning that despite the visual cortex’s cellular layout being optimized for vision tasks, the pathways that create the concept of vision sighted people understand will not exist. It is misleading for Musk to suggest otherwise, though I suspect the blind and low-vision community is accustomed to sighted people making this kind of mistake.”
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