Imagine the joy of a blind person who could finally see the face of their babies. To look again at the world around them. The gift of second sight would be an awesome one. #retinalimplants
I wonder how well a human being would adjust to vision that exceeds the norm, like being able to read a paper from across the length of a football field, or having extremely good night vision. I can't help but think of the horrible paranoia that would set in when the world becomes so detailed and vivid that I start wearing glasses meant specifically to dull out the world ever so slightly. #retinalimplants
for enhanced night vision, most psychedelic drugs will dilate your pupils quite a bit.
of course, this comes with the added complexity of not only seeing your night time surroundings better, but also seeing things which aren't really there, and differentiating between them while in an altered state.
Will it cost $6Million? I would not want Polarization as tilting your head would make LCDs blank. I've encountered some car dash electronics that are LCD based and with polarized glasses, you can't read them! (way to go Subaru Engineers).
I would like the option to see a great spectrum. Infrared would be nice. Then I could hunt at night without any addons..
Zoom vision! Someone invent zoom vision! I've always wanted to be able to zoom in on things far away, and be able to control it at whim. I'd trade my doomsday device for zoom vision!
I would do it in a heartbeat, though I know quite a few people who would take advantage and hide my darkened goggles and shine a lamp on my face for me to wake up to.
Nearsightedness is an advantage for people working with near field objects. We can see things at a much higher apparent magnification and clearly focus on things much closer than someone with normal eye sight. Of course the downside is that everything at a distance is a total blur. But that's what glasses and contacts are for. I am quite happy my eyes suck.
In the last case, the paraplegic wasn't downgrading his vision, he was correcting is presbyopia, something which occurs later in life. His world would now mostly be near requirements, like reading/computer/tv (which would require more adequate near vision), and the surgery is improving his quality of life. So now he needs glasses for driving? I'm sure he won't mind.
Laser vision correction was the best elective surgery I've ever had. Seriously, it is great, I got LASEK (not LASIK). Painful but I don't have to worry about a flap coming loose.
Only downside, occasional dry eye that, I've heard, is exacerbated by weed. So I've heard.
@Norbs: LASIK has a faster recovery time but the flap doesn't heal with the structural integrity of the original cornea, leading to a risk of the flap being dislodged by impact or eye rubbing. I play contact sports so that risk was unacceptable. Besides, who doesn't like a good eye rub now and then?
@The Lab: Yeah I got LASIK and I rub the hell out of my eyes... it seems pretty solid but the contact sports thing might be worth the extra recovery time. I just asked because my bud got the same procedure you did because his cornea was too thin for LASIK.
I imagine there wil come a day not too long from now when a multi-spectral image enhancer with long lasting nano batteries will be the size of a BB. I'll be the first one to line up for that enhancement.
I wonder if there will ever be a day when bionic eyes will be able to add functionality to an already perfectly healthy eye. The way things are going, in a few decades we could have people with zoom lens night vision eyes, all solar powered and integrated into their eyeball. Ah, the future.
On a side note, being in Europe, this Monday morning lul means I have no Gizmodo to read... I guess I should do some actual work!
@craig_16: Sir, Lieutenant La Forge's eyes are far superior to human biological eyes. True? Then why are not all human officers required to have their eyes replaced with cybernetic implants?
@Summermodoin'_GitEmSteveDave:
Wasn't there a chance of the operation totally not working and screwing up his ability to ever see anything again, visor or not? That was what I seem to recall, and if such was the case, I'd imaging they'd be reluctant to force it on everybody.
@mikekearn: IIRC, he was born blind, as i seem to recall him talking about pre-VISOR days where he was caught in a house fire.
@jake712 There was a scene like that in the cold opening. He explained just like you can pick a voice out of many in a crowd, or a musician can pick one song/instrument out of a cacophony, he could sort through all the "noise" and "see" what he needed.
Actually, this was a scene from "Measure of a Man" where Data's status was in question, and Picard was querying weither it was not worth the risk to subject himself to dis-assembly/re-assembly if it meant they could have an android on par with him on every ship.
@craig_16: I think the answer is unequivocally yes. Already, artificial replacements for worn out body parts like hearts and hips are common. This past year a prosthetic leg almost disqualified an olympic contender because it was thought to give him an advantage.
Increasingly, people are becoming cyborgs and it will only continue, with artificial enhancements incorporated into every physical system, from respiration to metabolism, blood to brain.
@frigg: I'm not sure the heart or hip joints are the best examples. Hip implants only work okay because they're usually for older people, so they don't have time to wear out and tend not to be used as vigorously as a younger patient might use them. Otherwise, the hardness of the titanium leads to bone adaptations that aren't exactly ideal. The bone around the titanium no longer receives the same compressive force (since the titanium is harder and doesn't compress as far under load), so it adapts and lowers its own hardness, which means your implant is sitting in softer bone.
Also, the heart may be replaceable by artificial means for short periods of time, but there's a reason why they don't just give every coronary artery disease patient an artificial one instead: you have to take tons of anti-rejection medication and blood thinners, even if you just replace a heart valve, let alone your entire heart. Also, open-heart surgery will probably always be one of the most taxing procedures you can have, and the idea of having to replace your artificial parts every decade or so (because of protein buildup, mechanical wear, etc) means you get to be taken out of your life for a few months every 10 years or less to recover from it. Not exactly fun or convenient.
Obviously, this may change in the future, but I'm not sure it's within our lifetimes. I think the idea of growing replacement organs is much closer than bionic parts, and probably much easier to live with, requiring little medication or follow up.
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10/07/09
of course, this comes with the added complexity of not only seeing your night time surroundings better, but also seeing things which aren't really there, and differentiating between them while in an altered state.
YMMV.
10/07/09
I would like the option to see a great spectrum. Infrared would be nice. Then I could hunt at night without any addons..
10/07/09
10/07/09
10/07/09
I would do it in a heartbeat, though I know quite a few people who would take advantage and hide my darkened goggles and shine a lamp on my face for me to wake up to.
10/07/09
Maybe it could will.
10/07/09
10/06/09
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Only downside, occasional dry eye that, I've heard, is exacerbated by weed. So I've heard.
10/07/09
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10/07/09
07/20/09
As long as I have enough Adam (TM)...
07/20/09
On a side note, being in Europe, this Monday morning lul means I have no Gizmodo to read... I guess I should do some actual work!
07/20/09
07/20/09
Wasn't there a chance of the operation totally not working and screwing up his ability to ever see anything again, visor or not? That was what I seem to recall, and if such was the case, I'd imaging they'd be reluctant to force it on everybody.
07/20/09
@jake712 There was a scene like that in the cold opening. He explained just like you can pick a voice out of many in a crowd, or a musician can pick one song/instrument out of a cacophony, he could sort through all the "noise" and "see" what he needed.
Actually, this was a scene from "Measure of a Man" where Data's status was in question, and Picard was querying weither it was not worth the risk to subject himself to dis-assembly/re-assembly if it meant they could have an android on par with him on every ship.
07/20/09
Increasingly, people are becoming cyborgs and it will only continue, with artificial enhancements incorporated into every physical system, from respiration to metabolism, blood to brain.
07/20/09
Also, the heart may be replaceable by artificial means for short periods of time, but there's a reason why they don't just give every coronary artery disease patient an artificial one instead: you have to take tons of anti-rejection medication and blood thinners, even if you just replace a heart valve, let alone your entire heart. Also, open-heart surgery will probably always be one of the most taxing procedures you can have, and the idea of having to replace your artificial parts every decade or so (because of protein buildup, mechanical wear, etc) means you get to be taken out of your life for a few months every 10 years or less to recover from it. Not exactly fun or convenient.
Obviously, this may change in the future, but I'm not sure it's within our lifetimes. I think the idea of growing replacement organs is much closer than bionic parts, and probably much easier to live with, requiring little medication or follow up.