Elon Musk hopes to implant the first artificial vision chip for the blind by the end of 2025

Elon Musk said his company Neuralink is planning to test the first human implant of its artificial vision device called Blindsight by the end of 2025.

“We hope to do the first implant later this year, allowing a completely blind person to see,” Musk said at an event in Wisconsin, US, on Sunday evening.

Blindsight artificial vision simulator. (Photo: Neuralink)

According to Musk, Blindsight will initially only provide low-resolution vision, similar to Atari graphics, but over time the technology could evolve to provide “superhuman” vision. He also revealed that the device has been tested on monkeys for the past few years with positive results.

Blindsight is designed to help even people who have lost both eyes and their optic nerves see. “It could even help people who are born blind see for the first time,” Musk wrote on the X platform.

The technology works by using a microelectrode array implanted in the visual cortex – the area of ​​the brain responsible for processing visual data. The system can stimulate neurons based on information received from an external camera.

Last September, Blindsight was granted “breakthrough” status by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), a designation given to medical devices that have the potential to provide a treatment or diagnostic solution for serious conditions. However, experts caution that this does not mean Neuralink has developed a cure for blindness, but rather allows for accelerated research and approval of the device.

In the past, some of Musk’s claims about neurotechnology have been met with criticism from experts. IEEE Spectrum quoted Philip Troyk, a biomedical engineer at the Illinois Institute of Technology: “At best, this is an assistive tool alongside a cane or a guide dog, not a complete replacement for current methods of assisting the blind.”

Khanh Huyen (Source: The Indian Express)

Source: https://vtcnews.vn/elon-musk-hopes-to-create-an-artificial-chip-for-people-in-the-late-year-2025-ar935022.html