tagged w/ Eyesight
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Deviceguru-
An interesting 11-minute PBS News Hour video demonstrates several bionics projects that use state-of-the-art robotics technologies to create artificial body parts capable of assisting people with disabilities. The video demonstrates a robotic exoskeleton called eLegs, an artificial arm called Luke, and glasses that provide “bionic eyesight.”
Like many advanced technology projects, eLegs is based on technology developed by a U.S. military R&D program. The military has been working on exoskeleton technologies in order to help its soldiers hike longer and faster while carrying heavier loads. The PBS video shows Amanda Boxtel, who lost her ability to walk as a result of a skiing accident, demonstrating her ability to walk using eLegs, which was developed by Berkeley Bionics.
“…I would love to be able to have the run mode working,” says Boxtel in the video. “And I would — they wouldn’t be able to catch me. I would run out of this building and keep going.”
The video also interviews Dean Kamen, who demonstrates “Luke,” an artificial arm and hand (the name comes from Star Wars). This project, which is intended to be a replacement arm for amputees, is also based on research funded by the U.S. military.
The artificial arm is attached to the amputee using “breakthrough surgery called targeted muscle reinnervation, pioneered … at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago by Dr. Todd Kuiken,” says the PBS video. The video shows Jesse Sullivan, the first person to get the surgery, demonstrating the artificial arm.
“The signal is sent down and a piece of the chest muscle contracts,” explains Kuiken, “When the chest muscle contracts, it emits a little bit of electricity called an EMG signal. And we can record that with little antennas or electrodes over the muscle…. The key thing is to be able to control even what we have got. No one has made wrist flexors until recently because we never had a way to control them.”
The video also showcases research at the University of Pittsburgh, in which a monkey feeds himself using an artificial arm.
Human trials of similar technology are underway at Brown University, the video reports. “We envision that this technology will one day go to a point where we will rewire people and cause it — and allow them to have their brain signals hooked back up to their body, controlling their own muscles,” says John Donoghue, who leads Brown University’s “BrainGate” study.
The PBS video also demonstrates a pair of specialized glasses that can provide a degree of bionic eyesight for the visually impaired. “A camera in the glasses gathers the image,” explains the video. “It gets fed into a small computer, which sends a wireless signal to tiny electrodes implanted on the retina. They stimulate the remaining nerve cells, sending the visual images to the brain.”
Finally, the video shows some prosthetic limbs that are so advanced that South African sprinter Oscar Pistorius “faces accusations he has an unfair advantage as he petitions to compete in the 2012 Olympics.”Deviceguru-
An interesting 11-minute PBS News Hour video demonstrates several bionics... more
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jwag57
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added this
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1 year ago
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While the phrase bionic retinas may conjure images of Steve Austin in “The Six Million Dollar Man” or Geordi La Forge in “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” technology to create vision where none, or very little, exists, is not a television fantasy. Companies concentrating on damaged retinas look poised for success as the technology inches toward measurable achievement.
“We will be approved on the market in Europe this year,” said Bill Link, managing director at Versant Ventures, an investor in Second Sight Medical Products Inc.
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http://blogs.wsj.com/venturecapital/2010/04/26/bionic-eye-companies-set-sights-on-next-generation-of-vision-tech/?mod=rss_WSJBlogWhile the phrase bionic retinas may conjure images of Steve Austin in “The Six... more
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Wearing glasses suck. You have to squint to see someone, if you’re bald, you end up looking like an art critic from the severe Berlin coffee houses, & they are just a pain in the ass to schlep around. This is a really funny piece for all 4-eyed folks who want a laugh & can relate. Also funny for those who don’t wear glasses so they can thank-god everyday! Well-written & fun as always—this blog is great! (Fab picture too!).Wearing glasses suck. You have to squint to see someone, if you’re bald, you... more
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jrn
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added this
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2 years ago
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24/7 video gamers and computer users have bad eyesight. The Japanese have realised this and decided to do something about it, by creating the Wink Glasses designed to prevent eyestrain.
Masunaga Optical Manufacturing produced the glasses with sensors that detect how long the wearer has gone without blinking. If the individual has gone five-seconds without a single blink, then the lens fog-up, until the eyelids make a move.
The Wink Glasses run on an eight-hour charge or can alternatively be plugged into a USB socket.
Expect to pay 15,750 yen (US$150 / £90) for these when they hit stores in Japan on August 10th.24/7 video gamers and computer users have bad eyesight. The Japanese have realised... more
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Most people don’t bother to ask whether their eyeglasses are eco-friendly when visiting the optometrist, but one company is answering that question with a resounding YES!...(To see this full story and more, follow The Green Connoisseur Blog link on our homepage @ http://thegreenconnoisseur.com )!!Most people don’t bother to ask whether their eyeglasses are eco-friendly when... more
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Research at the University of Toronto has provided the very first solid evidence of how our human emotions affect our eyesight.
Professor of Psychology, Adam Anderson, worked with his team on the study to bring to the forefront results that would either support or reject the belief that emotions control visual functions.
"Good and bad moods literally change the way our visual cortex operates and how we see,” explains Anderson. “Specifically our study shows that when in a positive mood, our visual cortex takes in more information, while negative moods result in tunnel vision."
To collect these findings, Anderson and his team showed volunteers a composite image of a face in the centre, surrounded by “place” images, such as a house. Volunteers were then asked to focus their attention on the central image by trying to identify the gender of the person’s face.
When in a bad mood, the subjects did not process the images of places in the surrounding background. This was the opposite to what the researchers discovered when volunteers were in a good mood -- more information was taken in.Research at the University of Toronto has provided the very first solid evidence of... more
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Designer Matthew Wagerfield has applied a new design concept to an age-old device to develop something brand new and practical– Sentio, the digital tactile watch. Sentio is a revolutionary watch that allows both blind and partially sighted users to use it with ease, as well as anyone else.Designer Matthew Wagerfield has applied a new design concept to an age-old device to... more
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Don't let your lame parents tell you violent video games are bad for you- science is on YOUR side!
"Video games with lots of action, such as the shoot-'em-up variety, can improve your vision, a new study finds.
Players became up to 58 percent better at perceiving fine contrast differences in the tests.
"If you are driving at dusk with light fog it could make the difference between seeing the car in front of you or not seeing it," study leader Daphne Bavelier told LiveScience.
The ability to discern slight differences in shades of gray, or contrast sensitivity, is the primary limiting factor in how well one sees, said Bavelier, a professor of brain and cognitive sciences at the University of Rochester.
"Normally, improving contrast sensitivity means getting glasses or eye surgery—somehow changing the optics of the eye," she said. "But we've found that action video games train the brain to process the existing visual information more efficiently, and the improvements last for months after game play stopped."Don't let your lame parents tell you violent video games are bad for you- science... more
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"Doctors may start prescribing a dose of violent conflict, if a trial confirms evidence that computer gaming improves eyesight.
Six years ago Daphne Bavelier at the University of Rochester, New York, exploded the myth that gaming is bad for your eyes by showing that expert gamers outperform non-gamers at a variety of visual tasks. Now she has demonstrated that playing action-packed video games improves a person's ability to perceive contrast, a skill we rely on in dark conditions.
The finding raises the prospect that people with amblyopia, which affects contrast perception, could be treated with games. A trial has begun to test that theory.""Doctors may start prescribing a dose of violent conflict, if a trial confirms... more
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CHICAGO (Reuters) - Adults who play a lot of action video games may be improving their eyesight, U.S. researchers said on Sunday.
They said people who used a video-game training program saw significant improvements in their ability to notice subtle differences in shades of gray, a finding that may help people who have trouble with night driving.
All I know is that I should have awesome eye sight!CHICAGO (Reuters) - Adults who play a lot of action video games may be improving their... more
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Stunning macro images of eyes, ranging from human eyes, reptile and amphibian and some beautiful insect eyes too.Stunning macro images of eyes, ranging from human eyes, reptile and amphibian and some... more
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Italian and British scientists want to exhume the body of 16th century astronomer Galileo for DNA tests to determine if his severe vision problems may have affected some of his findings.
The scientists told Reuters on Thursday that DNA tests would help answer some unresolved questions about the health of the man known as the father of astronomy, whom the Vatican condemned for teaching that the earth revolves around the sun.
"If we knew exactly what was wrong with his eyes we could use computer models to recreate what he saw in his telescope," said Paolo Galluzzi, director of the Museum of History and Science in Florence, the city where Galileo is buried.
Galileo, who lived from 1564 to 1642, is known to have had intermittent eye problems for the second half of his life and was totally blind for his last two years.
"There were periods when he saw very well and periods when he did not see very well," said Dr. Peter Watson, president of the Academia Ophthalmologica Internationalis and consultant to Addenbrooke's University Hospital, Cambridge.
Watson, who has studied Galileo's handwriting, letters and portraits of the astronomer, suspects he may have had unilateral myopia, uveitis — an inflammation of the eye's middle layer — or a condition called creeping angle closure glaucoma.
Watson believes Galileo did not acquire his eye problems by looking at the sun but by systemic illnesses, including an attack when he was young that left him temporarily deaf and bloody discharges and arthritis so severe he was bedridden for weeks.
He was under particular stress when he was tried for heresy by the Inquisition because the Copernican theory he supported conflicted with the Bible...Italian and British scientists want to exhume the body of 16th century astronomer... more
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The Australia Research Council have carried out a study which suggests that a lack of exposure to sunlight may damage children's sight.
Spending time in the sun can prevent children from becoming short-sighted.The Australia Research Council have carried out a study which suggests that a lack of... more
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ClareW
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added this
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3 years ago
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