World’s first bionic eye one step closer

A new national partnership - Bionic Vision Australia - was announced in Melbourne in November, bringing the development of the world’s first bionic eye one step closer.

Bionic Vision Australia has set itself the goal of developing a high-resolution bionic eye implant capable of restoring reading vision to people suffering from degenerative retinal conditions that account for 48 per cent of all blindness in Australia.

Bionic Vision Australia brings together some of Australia’s world-class research organisations to accelerate research into the development of the bionic eye, including the University of Melbourne, the University of New South Wales, the Victoria Research Laboratory of National ICT Australia and Melbourne’s Bionic Ear Institute and Centre for Eye Research Australia.

The partnership has been welcomed by the Victorian Government, who provided $60,000 funding to assist in its inception. Acting Information and Communication Technology Minister Gavin Jennings said Victoria had a proven track record of leadership in innovation and medical research, with many Australians having benefited from the cochlear implant or bionic ear, which was developed in Victoria.

“A bionic eye will hopefully improve the lives of people with vision-impairment in the same way that the bionic ear has for people with hearing-impairment,” he said. “With 5 per cent of Australians, around 400,000 people, suffering from some form of vision impairment, eye disease is a major health issue for the community.”

This investment builds on the Victorian Government’s injection of more than $1 billion into Victoria’s innovation and technology programs, through initiatives announced in Innovation: Victoria’s Future and related programs.

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