Scientists at the Boston Retinal Implant Project recently developed an implant that will help those with degenerative blindness see again.

Although not a complete bionic eye, this implant is a huge step forward in that direction. It works by being implanted at the back of the eyeball and transmitting light to the brain via a tiny nerve.

Unfortunately, there are still limitations - the technology will only give vision to those who had it previously, and those who were born blind or suffer glaucoma are still without a cure. For those who do get it, vision will not be great. The technology is only capable of giving them a sense of their surroundings and not much detail.

The researchers hope to continue improving on their eye in the future, giving users the ability to recognize finer detail. In time, hopefully they can give sight to those born blind as well. Until then, though, this eye is a step in the right direction.

Japanese researchers are working on a device that will let you control all sorts of gadgets by simply blinking your eyes.

The system, called the Kome Kami Switch (or “Temple Switch”), monitors movements of the temple using a single-chip computer and two infrared sensors. It is so tiny that it could be built into the side of a pair of eyeglasses.

Controlling an iPod is the most prominent use right now. Deliberately closing both eyes for a second turns the iPod on, and doing it again turns it off. Winking the right eye skips to the next song, while winking with the left eye skips back a song. Read more »

Toyota is hoping to help to prevent accidents with its latest addition to some of its cars, an eye-monitoring system. It includes a camera mounted on the dash near the steering wheel which constantly monitors a driver’s eyes. If it senses that the eyes are not “properly open,” the system would alert the driver. It would also sense imminent collisions, helping it decide how and when to tell the driver to wake up.

The system would first be installed on Japanese Toyotas, with no word on if or when it would make it Stateside. However, seeing as this can only benefit our cars, expect to see it soon after its Japan release. Graphic after the jump. Read more »

On the heels of contact lenses with circuits comes news of an eyeball-implanted camera patent. In the future, this technology could help restore sight to people with damaged vision. The camera could be charged wirelessly and would communicate directly with a chip implanted at the back of the eye.

Although not a new idea, this is the first time scientists think the whole mechanism can be squeezed inside of the human eye without using any external devices.

Hopefully this becomes a reality soon as a lot of people could use one of these. It also begs the question - will this not only give them sight, but also super-human power to zoom in and see at night on day?