Scientists have successfully implanted microchips in the retinas of three blind volunteers, allowing them to see shapes and letters within days of surgery.

Retinitis pigmentosa and macular degeneration are diseases that affect the light receptors in the retina, one of the eyeball’s outer layers.

Whether hereditary or age-related, they cause vision loss and lead to the eventual blindness of over 15 million people around the world.

In a Proceedings of the Royal Society B study, Eberhart Zrenner from the University of Tuebingen in Germany and colleagues describe their device as a subretinal electronic chip that can be surgically implanted underneath the retina, in effect replacing the light receptors that were lost.

The chip is about three millimeters wide with 1,500 pixel-generating elements, each with its own electrode. Each electrode, in turn, provides an electrical stimulus to nearby neurons, reflecting the visual signal that would normally be received by the degenerated photoreceptor.

The three volunteers in this study used to possess good vision, but had all been blind for at least five years.

After surgery, all three patients were able to visually locate bright objects that were placed on a dark tabletop in front of them. One patient, Miikka, was able to name and describe a variety of everyday objects, geometric patterns, different fruits, and clock faces. He was even able to discern varying shades of gray and approach people in a room using his newly restored visual abilities.

Here is a link for the full article
http://www.smartplanet.com/technology/blog/rethinking-healthcare/retinal-implant-brings-bionic-vision-to-blind-patients/1843/

I think this is awesome. It's a great advance

Is this really recent?
Because I remember seeing a news about blind people able to see basic shapes with black and white colors.

New news or not, I haven't heard of this yet.
That's pretty incredible stuff, I hope they can perfect this technology or make it generally affordable.

Science!

Related;
a while ago they began developing LED contacts, that you could use to display information right to your eyes.
Think.. holograms that aren't actually holograms.
I'll see if I can find the link..
(not the exact one I read up on, but similar enough)
http://spectrum.ieee.org/biomedical/bionics/augmented-reality-in-a-contact-lens/0

bump