Visually impaired people lose out to the normal folks in some ways, but on the other hand, their other senses are enhanced such as the sense of touch as the body’s method of compensation. Of course, we are not talking about Daredevil’s level when it comes to being sensitive to the environment around him, as that’d be asking for the impossible. Well, there is hope for the future just yet as retinal prostheses might being a change for the better to the visually impaired, although there is still a long way to go considering how the basics of the technology are still being ironed out, including issues concerning the delivery of power to an implant and interfacing it with an external camera.
Hence, it is good to know that researchers over at Stanford have been developing technology which might change the future for the better, courtesy of small photovoltaic modules which are able to convert visible light to electric potentials autonomously. This particular system would rely on electronic glasses which will shine near-infrared light onto the implant, hence doing away with any wires along the way. How neat is that?
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