We’ve talked about the Argus II once before back in March, so this will be an update.  Seems that a test group of thirty two blind folks got implanted with Argus IIs, got their cameras and set out to see if they could actually see anything.  The early results are actually very promising, with many of the recipients now able to see shapes and lights.

One recipient, an optical scientist turned lawyer named , who had been sightless for thirty years prior to his receiving an Argus II system, went from thirty years sightless to being able to make out a door in front of him.  Sure, the whole system is pretty low-resolution right now, but that’s how these things start out.  Got to have a cathode tube system before you can get the 1080p plasma, you know.

The company that makes them, Second Sight Medical Products, is trying to get approval to market the devices, which are slated to cost $100,000 each.  Here’s the interesting question: will any insurance plan cover this?

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Well, that’s it for me, folks–my science fiction lobe has officially collapsed on me, because I was just reading about a new military project that’ll probably change the way war is fought forever.

I read about cyborg beetles.

It seems that the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (or DARPA, the guys who started the Internet in the first place) have been working on a kind of “cyborg beetle” that’s been surgically altered and given all sorts of awesome mechanical doodads to engage in fighting and surveillance of the enemy.  They can be controlled remotely by humans in the field, and are actually part of a much larger overall project called HI-MEMS, the Hybrid Insect Micro-Electric Mechanical Systems.  HI-MEMS, if I understood correctly, will yield history’s first-ever truly bionic organism.

The article went on from there about what all they could do, but my head started swimming about the time I pictured wasps jammed full of uranium so they gave poisoned radioactive stings to their targets.

They’re the perfect soldier.  Absolutely expendable.  Kill as many as you please, the colony will hatch a few million more.  Heaven help us when they start carrying explosives.

They’re the perfect assassin.  Can you lock yourself down so effectively that even a spider can’t reach you?  And a cybernetic black widow could definitely take out a target, probably without ever being noticed.

I don’t know whether to be amazed or horrified, and right now, I’m trending toward horrified.

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So…how does the thought of computerized contact lenses strike you?

You’re a tougher soul than I am if that didn’t make you blink, but if engineer Babak Parviz has his way, we’ll all be wearing them soon enough, mostly because we’ll WANT to wear them.

Parviz’s incredible contact lenses will provide what’s known as augmented reality, in which “guides” will appear in front of you to tell you where to find things.  Think of it as having Google Maps with you whereever you go, even when you left your Blackberry at home.  It might tell you where you are, where you are in relation to where you want to be, where you SHOULD want to be, and so on from there.

Naturally, a computer that does all this will need a power supply, and they’re working on that too–specifically, solar power or RF power harvesting–though the first time someone suggests bio-electricity, I’m running for the hills.  The thought that my brain energy could power a computer floating on my pupil actually scares me green, and me a sci-fi buff.

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Retro gaming enthusiasts have been clawing at their emotional bedposts ever since word of a current gen Bionic Commando game surfaced.  Officially confirmed not to appear as a demo on the PS3 or PC, the Xbox 360 only multiplayer demo will be available for Gold Members starting tomorrow.  The demo will feature one deathmatch map called “Vertigo” and will support up to 10 players.  When the game ships on May 19th, it will contain 16 multiplayer maps.  Here’s to hoping that Bionic Commando makes the leap to current gen consoles without losing it’s arm in translation.

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The first story, which hit yesterday, is about a 73-year old man (above) who has had a very minute part of his vision recovered.  30 years ago Ron lost his vision due to etinitis pigmentosa.  Now thanks to an American company, Second Sight, he can now make out flashes of colored light and dark.  The eye, which is called Argus II is in fact a tiny camera and video processor mounted to a pair of glasses that sends the captured info to a sensor affixed to Ron’s eye.  He’s is just one of 18 patients taking part in Second Sights experimental bionic eye.

[Gizmodo]

The other story is about an aspiring filmaker who lost one of his eyes in a childhod accident.  Appropriately, dubbed the Eyeborg Project it involves a photographer/engineer, a team of ocularists, inventors and engineering specialists.  Unlike the previous story, the team has no plans to help blind people recover their vision, at least not yet.  In fact, they’ve created a prosthetic eye that features a built-in CMOS sensor that measure just 1.5×1.5mm big.  Built into the cameras is a tiny RF transmitter that wirelessly sends the cameras captured contents to a video recorder placed in a backpack.  The team is currently creating a film documenting their experiencc living with a bionic eye.

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Check the video after the ‘leap’

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DARPA, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency finally decided to address this growing issue. In 2005, Dean Kamen, the famed inventor of the Segway, won $18 million in funding to produce a bionic limb. What they’ve conceived is both mind blowing and exciting.

Video and more info after the ‘leap’

Called the Luke Arm, named after Luke Skywalker in the Star Wars films (he lost his hand in Empire Strikes Back), is the first bionic upper limb, or arm to offer 18 degrees of freedom. Previous prosthetics only offered a mere 3 degrees of freedom. The arm can be assembled in 4 modular parts to fit all types of amputees (think forearm or hand only). It’s driven by 12 microprocessors and weighs no more then 8lbs. Powered by an onboard lithium ion battery, the Luke Arm can be controlled in a number of ways. The amputee can have the device hard wired into their muscle or nerves, or opt for a foot module. A pad is placed in the user’s shoe, and based on pressure and toe articulation the amputee can control the arm. Obviously this isn’t the ideal choice for those without legs, but a good alternative.

If you’ve ever seen “The Million Dollar Man” then you’re probably pondering the military applications. The current state of the Luke Arm seems to be for practical use only – so no bone crushing power just yet. But, as with a human arm and hand, it’s easy to crush lightweight objects. To avoid the embarrassment of an exploding soda can or paper cup, Kamen’s team installed a tactile feedback sensor in the hand of the Luke Arm. As the individual grips harder a vibration is felt and grows increasingly stronger as their grip tightens

Watching the linked video is amazing. The man displaying the Luke Arm has been an amputee for 26 years. He is able to pick up objects as small as a marble and softly place it on a stacked paper cup. In the video he remarks ‘how he hasn’t been able to do these things in 26 years’ and ‘that his wife will have plenty for him to do’ as soon as he gets one of these.

Currently Deka, Dean Kamen’s research team, is looking for a partner to go into clinical studies. They hope to keep the Luke Arm’s cost to under $100,000.

More here.

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