Neuralink Gets FDA Go-ahead for Developing Device that Lets Blind-from-birth People See like Geordi La Forge

[btarunr]

Neuralink, the company founded by Elon Musk that's working on brain user interfaces, announced that it received US-FDA device designation for a neural implant that lets visually impaired people see. Neuralink is calling this device "Blindsight." This paves the way for the public to participate in the development of the device. The device lets those with full vision loss, including damaged optic nerves, to see, provided that the brain's visual cortex is intact. Commenting on the development, Musk set expectations for what the very first version of the device is capable of—it interfaces with the visual cortex, and lets visually impaired people, including those that have been blind from birth, see for the first time, however, this vision is of low resolution—resembling "Atari graphics," as Musk puts it. It's what he said next that is raising eyebrows.

If Neuralink succeeds in building and deploying the first generation of "Blindsight," Musk says that future generations of the device will only grow in resolution, and acquire capabilities such as seeing the electromagnetic spectrum beyond natural human perception, such as infrared, ultraviolet, and even radar waves—something Geordi La Forge, the chief engineer of the USS Enterprise in the cult sci-fi show "Star Trek: The Next Generation" does, with his device called simply "the visor."



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[freeagent]

Dude..

This is amazing.

Life imitating art, or is it the other way around..

The toy box is starting to open

 

[shagath]

This is cool!

 

[sepheronx]

So that means I can have predator vision?

 

[yfn_ratchet]

This is not the first emergence of this type of medical tech, though mapping a camera to the visual cortex is a daunting task for current tech. I would be rather excited if it wasn't Elon of all people heading this. Pop culture references and promises of out-of-this-world features are usually predecessors to another of his burning heaps.

 

[ratirt]

I'm not blind or anything but I want one of these. Seeing infrared and ultraviolet is damn cool.

 

[Vayra86]

We'll see if this turns out as more than a fancy soundbite from a billionaire.

So far there is nothing.

 

[SN2716057]

I'll start printing the visor!

 

[razaron]

Never thought this would be relevant.

 

[persondb]

Why is this news when such devices have existed for decades?

The Dobelle Eye has been tested in several people, allowing individuals who were once completely blind to see the outlines of images in the form of white dots on a black background. In 2002, 38-year-old Jens Naumann, a blind man, was able to use the device to drive a car in the parking lot of the Dobelle Institute

There are several such projects but it seems like the majority has stopped due to being unable to go much further than the low res image and probably not much reliability.
I am not sure what Neuralink is bringing new to BCI research or ocular implants.

 

[64K]

Is this the same Elon Musk that wants to implant millions of people with a brain chip to give them superpowers? One of his goals is to overclock the human mind to speeds that won't seem boring to AI. What could possibly go wrong?

Elon Musk says his brainchip patients will soon 'outperform a pro gamer', then takes a big old puff and says 'let’s give people superpowers'

What could go wrong!

www.pcgamer.com

 

[Vayra86]

Is this the same Elon Musk that wants to implant millions of people with a brain chip to give them superpowers? One of his goals is to overclock the human mind to speeds that won't seem boring to AI. What could possibly go wrong?

Elon Musk says his brainchip patients will soon 'outperform a pro gamer', then takes a big old puff and says 'let’s give people superpowers'

What could go wrong!

www.pcgamer.com

Its the same Elon Musk that OK'd this and said all is well

\
You can haul as much load in a simple VW Passat for several decades already, but oh my this car is special!

Musk was going to drill lots of holes too. I don't know where to, yet, but it seems they rather just buried the drills altogether.

Musk is also going to bring us to Mars at some undefined moment.

All I read is Forever in Beta
Great business model, that. As long as you can keep making new promises, you don't have to deliver.

And when you do deliver, why would you have to stick to the deal you made initially, right? Or can we still charge our Tesla's for free somewhere? And how do those battery pack changes go, actually? (spoiler: its a corrupt cesspool of half broken and revised battery packs)

I trust this man about as far as I can throw him.

 

[GhostRyder]

Its the same Elon Musk that OK'd this and said all is well

View attachment 363823\
You can haul as much load in a simple VW Passat for several decades already, but oh my this car is special!

Musk was going to drill lots of holes too. I don't know where to, yet, but it seems they rather just buried the drills altogether.

Musk is also going to bring us to Mars at some undefined moment.

All I read is Forever in Beta
Great business model, that. As long as you can keep making new promises, you don't have to deliver.

And when you do deliver, why would you have to stick to the deal you made initially, right? Or can we still charge our Tesla's for free somewhere? And how do those battery pack changes go, actually? (spoiler: its a corrupt cesspool of half broken and revised battery packs)

I trust this man about as far as I can throw him.

Say what you want about it, but its selling great and has been talked about non-stop. Now I would not own one simply because I cant use an electric truck.

I am all for any technology advances that push cybernetics closer. All for the Cyberpunk style future LOL.

 

[b1k3rdude]

You do not want anything in your life that musk has touched, how many times do you have see examples of his companies products killing people to get it.

The guy is nothing more than an annoying clown who with the help of daddys money got lucky.
-

 

[yfn_ratchet]

Say what you want about it, but its selling great and has been talked about non-stop. Now I would not own one simply because I cant use an electric truck.

I am all for any technology advances that push cybernetics closer. All for the Cyberpunk style future LOL.

"I'm all for the recreation of the Torment Nexus," says fan of popular role-playing game 'Destroy the Torment Nexus for the Love of God'

 

[Visible Noise]

Why is this news when such devices have existed for decades?

There are several such projects but it seems like the majority has stopped due to being unable to go much further than the low res image and probably not much reliability.
I am not sure what Neuralink is bringing new to BCI research or ocular implants.

From Jens Naumann himself: The Dobelle Eye was a failure.

Man's high-tech paradise lost

Jens Naumann holds two round titanium jacks in his hand. They look small — until you learn that these jacks were once installed in Naumann’s skull. Then, they appea…

www.thewhig.com

 

[persondb]

From Jens Naumann himself: The Dobelle Eye was a failure.

Man's high-tech paradise lost

Jens Naumann holds two round titanium jacks in his hand. They look small — until you learn that these jacks were once installed in Naumann’s skull. Then, they appea…

www.thewhig.com

To be fair that was more due to Dobelle death and poor documentation, the technology worked and there were other projects that did similar things.
This isn`t to say that those were successful or anything but that Neuralink isn't creating anything new, those things have existed for quite a while by now.
I mentioned Dobelle because he is the most famous.

There are others like those guys who are in their second generation testing(finished one of their trials).

News - Bionic Vision Technologies

bionicvis.com

 

[N3utro]

Why is this news when such devices have existed for decades?

There are several such projects but it seems like the majority has stopped due to being unable to go much further than the low res image and probably not much reliability.
I am not sure what Neuralink is bringing new to BCI research or ocular implants.

The others projects dont have one of the richest man in the world behind them

 

[persondb]

The others projects dont have one of the richest man in the world behind them

Boring Company had that and they achieved nothing.