I would like to re-iterate that the Space Science board is the 'Space AND Science' board- just because your post wasnt space related does not mean it would be inappropriate on the space science board.

That said... I applaud Stevie Wonder's courage... The technology is in its infancy, and I am sure it has been explained to him that the technology cannot currently come close to what most people would call vision.... from what I have read, it can let a blind person navigate large obstacles without a cane but not much more than that...

If it is like the other systems of this type that I have seen, then the images are collected by a camera and then relayed to a low res chip attached to the retina that stimulates the neurons- It is VERY crude compared to normal vision.

It raises the question- does the visual cortex atrophy with lack of use? Can someone that went blind at infancy process visual information at Wonder's age? Also, does having the implant now make getting future/better implants impossible?

Then there is the future to consider- someday retinal implants will surpass the real thing in abilities (I won't hazard a guess how long it will be before this happens)- this will raise some interesting ethical issues- will only the blind be granted the gift of superhuman sight? If the sighted want to have their retinas replaced with implants should it be allowed? Where does 'do no harm' come into the issue? If you destroy or damage a person's natural sight to give them better cybernetic sight is that good, or is it harm?

It is becoming possible to give human beings the sharpest vision humanly possible (Adaptive optics has helped make this possible)