Gadgetory

attorney Dean Lloyd suffers from retinitis pigmentosa a degenerative eye disease which destroys photoreceptor cells and impedes a person's ability to detect light I saw nothing except maybe I could ascertain daytime from nighttime that was the only thing I could be safe for 17 years now a device 20 years in the making that will soon be commercially available in the US is helping patients like Lloyd a perception was sort of like a flash of light or a star that you might see in the sky well now i can see boundaries and borders the Argus 2 by second-sight was fda approved earlier this year and patients are being screened at the 12 major US hospitals chosen as implant centers you can hear it beeping away the device includes a chip with an array of electrodes that's implanted on the retina and glasses with a video camera that wirelessly transmits images it converts that video into a 60 pixel image that then delivers electronic impulses to the 60 little electrodes in the chip that then stimulate the retina to generate a perception or message that the brain can then interpret and understand the device doesn't restore vision but patients can detect light and dark thus identifying an object's location and movement what done aside watch my bus stop to my office daily basis and I can see where the grass comes up to I sidewalk that's like concrete color the device is not going to enable them to drive a car or you know read fine prints on a newspaper but that it might help them enjoy a better quality of life some patients report that they can see the outline of people talking to them some patients have benefited from being able to sort their laundry from late and dark socks settings for the Argus to can be modified for individual needs second sight is also working on software upgrades to improve resolution and possibly provide color lloyd says he now almost feels naked without them they say sir oh your google glasses look really nice I said I don't have a Google Glasses thank you that's good doctor making some take a second look at the first government-approved bionic eye Sumi das San Francisco cnet for CBS News