Schiller PH; Tehovnik EJ
Perception, in press
Abstract
There are more than 40 million blind individuals in the world whose plight would
be greatly ameliorated by creating a visual prosthetic. We begin by outlining
the basic operational characteristics of the visual system as this knowledge
is essential for producing a prosthetic device based on electrical stimulation
through arrays of implanted electrodes. We then list a series of tenets that
we believe need to be followed in this effort. Central among these is our belief
that the initial research in this area, which is in its infancy, should first
be carried out in animals. We suggest that implantation of area V1 holds high
promise as the area is of a large volume and can therefore accommodate extensive
electrode arrays. We then proceed to consider coding operations that can effectively
convert visual images viewed by a camera to stimulate electrode arrays to yield
visual impressions that can provide shape, motion and depth information. We
advocate experimental work that mimics electrical stimulation effects non-invasively
in sighted human subjects using a camera from which visual images are converted
into displays on a monitor akin to those created by electrical stimulation.
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manuscript
(N.B. -- The final version of this manuscript appears in Perception,
vol 37, pp. 1529-59)
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