Have you seen the classic Six Million Dollar Man series in the past? That was certainly quite a hoot actually, and it does seem to be an impossibility these days when one takes into consideration that $6 million is not going to get one very far in terms of bionic upgrades for the body these days. Still, Monash University’s research on a direct wireless sensor-to-brain interface that hopes to bypass optic nerve damage has received a monetary boost that totals AU$2 million so that the technology will be prepared for human trials.
Both Marc Besen and Monash chancellor Alan Finkel have made up AU$1 million in donation, while the university will contribute another million, so that the amount of money raised is adequate enough to handle the various critical development costs of the project.
The Monash Vision Group’s (MVG) project intends to deliver external vision sensors such as digital cameras in glasses through a wireless connection to a brain implant. In other words, the implant will hopefully stimulate the brain’s receptors directly instead of using the optic nerve, in order for the system to assist those with eye damage as well as patients who suffer from nerve degeneration. Hopefully such a project will be a stepping stone to future developments.