Bionic Eye Lets Blind See
No, really. Read all about it in a remarkable (if awkwardly named) new paper from German team Zrenner et al, Subretinal electronic chips allow blind patients to read letters and combine them to words.The device acts as an artificial retina. It's a tiny 3 x 3.1 mm panel (about ? that size) containing an array of 1,500 individual light-sensitive microphotodiodes (38 x 40).Each sensor converts incoming light into an electrical current - the brighter, the stronger - and outputs it through a tiny ele