The Next Frontier for Brain Implants is Artificial Vision

“Bussard is one of a small number of blind individuals around the world who have risked brain surgery to get a visual prosthesis. In Spain, researchers at Miguel Hernández University have implanted four people with a similar system. The trials are the culmination of decades of research.There’s interest from industry, too. California-based Cortigent is developing the Orion, which has been implanted in six volunteers. Elon Musk’s Neuralink is also working on a brain implant for vision. In an X post in March, Musk said Neuralink’s device, called Blindsight, is ‘already working in monkeys.’ He added: ‘Resolution will be low at first, like early Nintendo graphics, but ultimately may exceed normal human vision.’” (Wired)

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Photonic crystals are the key to the brightest semiconductor laser ever, a tiny ultrabright device capable of melting steel. This groundbreaking laser owes its exceptional brightness to the unique properties of photonic crystals, which enable it to generate an unprecedented level of focused light energy. Over the past couple of decades, a team at Kyoto University has been developing a new type of semiconductor laser that surpasses the brightness limitations of its conventional counterparts. Called the photonic-crystal surface-emitting laser, or PCSEL (pronounced “pick-cell”), this innovative device has recently been fabricated to achieve brightness levels comparable to gas and fiber lasers, making it capable of quickly slicing through steel. The team has also proposed a design for a PCSEL that is 10 to 100 times brighter than current models. Such devices have the potential to revolutionize the manufacturing and automotive industries, and could even open the door to exotic applications like inertial-confinement nuclear fusion and light propulsion for spaceflight. (via IEEE Spectrum)

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