California-based Second Sight makes the kind of useful wearable tech that makes life a lot better. The company’s Argus II retinal prosthesis has been turning heads since it was announced last year. Well, it has just been approved for “clinical and commercial use” in Europe. That is great, considering this thing pretty much delivers sight to the sightless. Think, Geordie LaForge and you’d be getting there.
Here is how it works: Patients put on the camera-laden lenses. Signals are then routed to a chip that implanted near the retina. The information is then literally “beamed” to the retina, giving the patient a sort of sight where there was previously none. This is some futuristic stuff.
For now, the $115,000 device will only be available in certain clinics throughout in Switzerland, France and the UK. It has not been approved by the FDA yet so look for it in the states whenever that happens, unless the Tea Party decides to derail it just because they hate blind people or something. I kid. I kid(No I don’t.)
