Technological progress is a wonderful thing. It allows us to do things that our biological bodies simply cannot do and so, in a way, technology is our way to overcome our limitations and do what we wish.

Speaking of our biological bodies, we are increasingly gaining the ability to mimic the natural processes through mechanical means, which will ultimately help us become our own masters, i.e. we'll no longer be at the mercy of nature or circumstances.

Even though we have come really far, we have a ways to go. There are many diseases and disabilities yet to be cured, there are challenges to healthy living in a degrading environment and much more but every step forward is a step closer to the goal. A recent achievement is a huge example of that.

A team of researchers at the Baylor College of Medicine, in collaboration with the University of California and Second Sight Medical Products, have created a visual cortical prosthesis to restore partial sight in blind patients.

So Much Beauty

The idea, in simple words, is to use a camera (attached to a pair of glasses) and send its feed to an implant in the brain. In other words, the researchers managed to completely bypass the eyes and the optical nerve that connects the eyes to the brain. They are calling the device, Orion.

In our brains, there is a visual cortex that processes the signals received from the eyes and that is how we see our world. People who are not born blind still have the visual cortex that is undamaged and can be used to process visual signals.

So, to send signals from a camera directly to the brain is a genius idea to say the least. In a medical trial conducted by the team, six people's vision was partially restored. One of the participants said, "It is awe inspiring to see so much beauty. It is not perfect vision - it is like a grainy 1980s surveillance video. It may not be full vision yet, but it's something."

Right now the brain implant has only 60 electrodes and the researchers say that if they could incorporate thousands of electrodes in the implant, the visual image would be much better. As the team continues its work, this could be achieved in the next few years.

In a more distant future, there will likely be bionic eyes that look almost like the real thing which will act as the camera to send the signals to the brain. In my opinion, that would be the ultimate perfection of this technology.