Slight nitpick about HN title: This isn't the world's first bionic eye. The article was surprisingly good about not making this assertion: Australia's first bionic eye seeing shapes and recipient of the first bionic eye developed in Victoria. Sorry... it just always bothers me when people claim "firsts" without sufficient research or qualifications (ie hedging) -- it tends to marginalize others' groundwork... "shoulders of giants" and all that.

I came here to write the same thing, bionic eyes have been in testing for well over a decade now. More can be read about the various attempts here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visual_prosthesis

Wow. I wish more "tech media companies" reported on real tech news like this, instead of all the hyperbole and media gossip of pseudo celebrities in the tech sphere. I feel happy for this woman.

Try this: http://www.newscientist.com/

Refreshingly content filled.

Its steps like these that really make me feel like we're living in such an incredible and unprecedented time in human development.

As someone who lost vision in their left eye during their teenage years from a paintball accident, this kind of news is really, really exciting. It sounds like we're a bit far from this being viable as the patient can only see certain lights and shapes, but it's certainly a great stride.

Slap a computer screen on one, patch it in to a 3rd optic nerve that you install, and where do I sign?

The blurring of man and machine begins here today, the bionic eye is just the beginning. I want a bionic GPS system as well.

In a situation where upgrading might be effectively impossible, I think I'll wait for better gear before installing something in myself.

The Geek Code used to have a line about "I'll be the first person in line to get a T3 installed directly into my brain."

My actual position is "I'll be waiting for the development of an effective firewall and a few hardware revisions before getting the direct brain interface, thanks."

On the other hand, I'm not blind. That could change my opinion pretty quickly, I think.

A bit of a tangent, but this awesome song started popping up on Pandora Radio... [http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/j/jonathan_coulton/the_futu...]

  [...]
  Here on Earth they'll wonder
  As I piece by piece replace myself
  And the steel and circuits will make me whole
  But I'll still feel so alone
  Until Laura calls me home

  I'll see her standing by the monorail
  She'll look the same except for bionic eyes
  She lost the real ones in the robot wars
  I'll say I'm sorry, she'll say it's not your fault
  Or is it?
  And she'll eye me suspiciously
  Hearing the whir of the servos inside
  She will scream and try to run
  But there's nowhere she can hide
  When a crazy cyborg wants to make you his robot bride

  Well it's gonna be the future soon
  And I won't always be this way
  When the things that make me weak and strange get 
    engineered away
  It's gonna be the future soon
  I've never seen it quite so clear
  And when my heart is breaking I can close my eyes and 
    it's already here

    When the things that make me weak and strange get 
    engineered away

Cory Doctorow wrote a story based on that lyric: http://www.tor.com/stories/2008/08/weak-and-strange

I like Jonathan Coulton (especially "Re: Your Brains", but I actually read (or started...) the story before I heard of that song.

Yeah but doesn't make the du.du.du.du sound. :(