Researcher Hong Kong University of science and technology Zhiyong Fang said a breakthrough in the development of an artificial analogue of the retina of the human eye. He and his colleagues were able to create a promising design based on the combination of sensors of the perovskite nanowires, which copies the device’s real eyes. A prototype has already been created, but it still has problems, the main of which is how to connect it to the human brain.
Chinese scientists have used perovskite, a very light-sensitive material to create a set of point sensors. Each one is a separate wire nanoscale, mimic the nerve. All sensors are located on a thin aluminum substrate that is curved for better reception of light. When the photons fall on the plate, generates a series of electrical impulses, creating a distinctive pattern that is recognized as an image.
One square cm artificial retina holds 460 million of these sensors, compared to about 10 million in the live retina. This allows you to dramatically increase the visual sensitivity, make the vision is unusually acute. The sensitivity of the sensors is so great that they react to the wave length of 800 nanometers, which are outside the visible spectrum, infrared radiation. That does not make the bionic eye to the imager, but gives its bearer the ability to navigate in complete darkness.
According to Zhiyong fan, is that there is only the prototype artificial retina, in which it is impossible to assess the full potential of the technology. For example, if you implement AI system for image analysis, the media eye would see not only the smallest details and immediately get more information about them. Scientists hope the decade to achieve practical application of their development.
Source — Scientific American