Caltech scientists create robot surrogate for blind persons in testing visual ...(atformbut we have to get it to the point...)

Once that's done, he adds, "we can run many, many tests without bothering the blind prosthesis carriers."

Among the things they hope to learn from such testing is how to enhance a workplace or living environment to make it more accessible to a blind person with a particular vision implant. If CYCLOPS can use computer-enhanced images from a 50-pixel array to make its way safely through a room with a chair in one corner, a sofa along the wall, and a coffee table in the middle, then there is a good chance that a blind person with a 50-pixel retinal prosthesis would be able to do the same.

The results of tests on the CYCLOPS robot should also help researchers determine whether a particular version of a prosthesis, say, or its onboard image-processing software, are even worth testing in blind persons. "We'll be coming in with a much more educated initial starting point, after which we'll be able to see how blind people work with these implants," Fink notes.

And the implants need to work well. After all, Fink points out, "Blind people using a cane or a canine unit can move around impressively well. For an implant to be useful, it has to have the implicit promise that it will surpass these tools. The ultimate promisethe hopeis that we instill in them such useful vision that they can attain independent mobility, can recognize people, and can go about their daily lives."

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