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after helping patients control computers and play video games through thinking, musk's brain-computer interface company neuralink is trying to help patients restore their vision through experimental implants.

on september 17, local time, according to foreign media reports, neuralink, a brain-computer interface company owned by tesla ceo elon musk, said that an experimental device called "blindsight" has been recognized as a "breakthrough device" by the u.s. food and drug administration (fda). this recognition is expected to accelerate the development and review of certain devices under development.

according to the company, the blindsight device can restore vision to people who have lost both eyes and their optic nerves. at present, officials have not yet disclosed specific details on when the device will enter human trials.

musk mentioned at the 2022 neuralink event, “in terms of human applications, we will first focus on restoring vision. it is worth noting that even for congenitally blind people who have never had vision, we believe that we can help them see again. because the visual cortex still exists, even if they have never seen things, we believe that they will eventually be able to gain visual ability.”

in march this year, musk revealed that the "blindsight" implant technology has worked on monkeys. musk said, "the resolution will be low at first, like early nintendo graphics, but it may eventually exceed normal human vision." he also emphasized that "no monkeys have died or been seriously injured by neuralink devices!"

neuralink was founded in 2016. its main research direction is brain-computer interface. it realizes "interaction between human brain and machine" by developing a device that can be implanted in the brain. after the company was founded, it received multiple rounds of financing. according to foreign media reports, as early as june 2023, neuralink's valuation exceeded us$5 billion.

before trying to solve the vision problem, neuralink has disclosed the progress of two brain-computer interface implant trials. the technology is called telepathy, and blindsight will be the second technology product.

on january 29 this year, the first human patient, noland arbaugh, received a neuralink implant. musk said, "you can control your phone or computer with just your thoughts, and control almost any device through them. the first users will be those who have lost their limbs. imagine if stephen hawking could communicate faster than a typist or auctioneer. this is our goal."

however, on may 8, neuralink revealed that some of arbaugh's wires embedded in the brain tissue had retracted and fallen off, affecting the information transmission rate, losing some data, and causing the device to malfunction. neuralink later stated that the problem of wire retraction and falling off in the first patient has been solved, and the subject is currently using the brain-computer interface in a very stable condition.

on august 21, neuralink said that the second subject who received the brain-computer interface implant was recovering well. after the subject was connected to the computer, it took less than 5 minutes to control the cursor with his mind. his ability to play video games has been improving, and he has begun to learn how to use computer-aided design (cad) software for 3d modeling.

neuralink stressed that this marks another major step towards "high-performance interaction" of the technology, which is expected to enhance the control of digital devices by quadriplegic patients and help them regain autonomy.

musk once revealed in an interview that neuralink is expected to provide implants for another 8 patients this year. in other words, neuralink will complete clinical trials for 10 brain-computer interface patients this year.