Caltech Scientists Create Robot Surrogate for Blind Persons in Testing Visual
  Prostheses 
From: California Institute of Technology - 10/19/2009
By: Lori Oliwenstein

California Institute of Technology (Caltech) scientists have developed a
remote-controlled robot capable of simulating the experience of a blind
person who has received visual prosthesis implants such as an artificial
retina. Caltech's mobile robotic platform, called CYCLOPS, is the first
device to emulate what a blind person can see with an implant, says Caltech
scientist Wolfgang Fink. An artificial retina uses a miniature camera to
capture images, which are processed and sent to the implanted silicon chip's
electrode array. The chip directly stimulates the eye's functional retinal
ganglion cells, which send the image information to the vision centers of the
brain. CYCLOPS fills a gap in the process of testing visual prosthesis by
approximating what the blind can see with a prosthesis to enable researchers
to make improvements. CYCLOPS can be equipped with a camera like those used
in retinal prosthesis, which allows researchers to determine what the robot
receives as visual input. Researchers can use CYCLOPS to test improvements in
retinal implants, or to test a home or workplace to see how it can be made
more accessible to a blind person with a particular vision implant. For
example, if CYCLOPS can navigate a room using a 50-pixel array there is a
good chance that a person seeing through a 50-pixel retinal prosthesis would
be able to do so as well. 

Read the entire article at:
http://media.caltech.edu/press_releases/13294
http://www.roboticstrends.com/academics_research/article/caltech_scientists_create_robot_surrogate_for_blind_persons_in_testing_visu

Links:
Wolfgang Fink
http://autonomy.caltech.edu/

CYCLOPS: A mobile robotic platform for testing and validating image processing
  and autonomous navigation algorithms in support of artificial vision
  prostheses
http://www.sciencedirect.com/ & search for Cyclops

Wheeled ‘Cyclops’ bot offers insight into blind
http://www.dv-depot.com/29651/wheeled-cyclops-bot-offers-insight-into-blind/