Bionic Vision 1By Elliot Whaley, Villanova University

2 Why Use Bionic Vision? The technology is here! To cure blindness. To improve quality of life To help in professions such as soldiers, doctors and firefighters.

By Elliot Whaley, Villanova University3 Major Areas of Bionic Vision Medical Procedures /curing blindness Contact lenses with a computer chip Example: Brain machine interface systems (BCI) Example: lenses created by University of Wash. Strengths – Can give vision back to the blind. Strengths: No surgery or glasses needed Weakness-Can be cumbersome due to its size. Weaknesses: They have not been completed so no weaknesses yet. Wearable Vision aids Example: EyeTap Strengths-Can record your life and play it back to you while improving vision. Weakness-Problem of inequiveillance which is the imbalance between surveillance and sousveillance.

BCI (Brain Computer Interface)

By Elliot Whaley, Villanova University5 Medical Procedures/Curing Blindness William Dobelle's first prototype was an implant in to a blind man, in A single- array BCI containing 68 electrodes was implanted onto his visual cortex. In 2002, Jens Naumann one of 16 paying patients to receive Dobelle’s second generation implant, one of the first commercial uses of BCIs. SWAN system which stands for System for Wearable Audio Navigation. utilizes a small laptop, a proprietary tracking chip, GPS, a digital compass, a head tracker, four cameras and light sensor and bone- conduction headphones. These tools provide audio guidance to a person in their surrounding with or without vision.

By Elliot Whaley, Villanova University6 EyeTap Key Features: Functions as a camera and display device Improves vision Ability to playback past events Wearable camera phone

By Elliot Whaley, Villanova University7 Contact Lenses Desired Functionality: Ability to zoom in on distant objects Display information in front of the eye Wirelessly connect devices such as an iphone to the lenses and display the interface in front of the eye.