Bernardeta Gómez has been blind for over a decade after toxic nerve damage destroyed the nerves that connect her eyes to her brain. She’s unable even to detect light, and doctors don’t know how to put her sight back.
This was possible thanks to a modified pair of glasses, blacked out and fitted with a tiny camera. The contraption is hooked up to a computer that processes a live video feed into electronic signals. A cable suspended from the ceiling links the system to a port embedded in the back of her skull.
Four days a week for the duration of her experiment, Gómez was led to a lab by her husband and hooked up to an EEG machine. Using this, she identified ceiling lights, letters, basic shapes printed on paper, and even played computer games.
The Spanish scientist’s aim is to give sight to as many as possible of the 36 million blind people around the world who wish to see again.
