Bionic Eye Will Become Reality in Five Years, Hong Kong Researchers Say

Sputnik news agency and radio 08:41 GMT 24.05.2020

According to reports, the prosthetic eye uses a membrane made of aluminium and tungsten to imitate a retina, converting light to the image via multiple tiny sensors, working as light-detecting photoreceptor cells.

Humanity is about five years away from the world's first 3D artificial eyeball, which would outperform a real eye in many ways, researchers from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology state in a paper published in the journal Nature.

Professor Zhiyong Fan, of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, told The Sun: "I think if everything is on track, perhaps in five years, the technology will become practical".

"The device design has a high degree of structural similarity to a human eye with the potential to achieve high imaging resolution when individual nanowires are electrically addressed", the publication said.

The device might be able to return vision to people with damaged eyes and even grant people the ability to see clearly at night.