It was only a couple of decades ago that a horribly dystopian cyberpunk future seemed like a faraway dream, a fairytale recited by campfire to excited children. However, in the past several years these days of cyborg and brain hacks not even seem like a possibility but an absolute certainty. The only mystery in the equation is to how long it will take for us to get there. The field of cyborg robotics, especially in the wearable sector, would like to add that the day will be sooner rather than later. On that note, here is a bionic eye that actually exists in the real world so, uh, there’s that.
Introducing the Argus II, a bionic eye for the pirate in all of us. This eye was actually created in 2007, and inserted into the sockets of two men-turned-cyborgs. Now this magnificent and fake eyeball is ready to be tested by a larger group of subjects, thirty in all. Why did rounding up these test subjects take so long? Well, the Argus II costs over one million to produce each unit. You read that. One million smackeroos for each one. Nobody said the future would be cheap, after all.
What in tarnations does it do? Well, it gives a manner of sight to the sightless. It doesn’t give full sight back, mind you. Think of it more like the visors that that one dude from Star Trek used(or one day will) wear. It essentially gives outlines of objects in their field of vision. Also, the creators hope one day an advanced iteration of Argus will help us normal sighted folks achieve super sight. Life!
