Speaker 0:  we're moving past just fixing broken eyes and entering the era of human dlc. scientists have just built a retinal implant that lets the blind see in infrared. this isn't just about restoring vision. it's about giving humans a sensory superpower that normally belongs to snakes. liquid metal, provider liquid metal now provides infrared sight. researchers at yonsei university have created flexible liquid metal retinal implant that detects near infrared light and beams it directly into surviving brain linked cells. it bypasses dead photoreceptors to restore light perception in patients with conditions like retinitis, pigmentosa. this effectively turns a medical prosthetic into a biological night vision goggles, opening new sensory channels humans have never naturally possessed. what do you think about this, john?

Speaker 1:  i think this is cool. i want one of these. and it's, it's awesome because what it does is it enhances vision. it doesn't just restore vision, it enhances it. so like you said, it's built using two critical components, an nir phototransistor right near infrared and a liquid metal, micro pillar electrodes. and so the phototransistor ray acts like an artificial photoreceptor layer. so what it does is it detects near infrared light, which is just beyond visible wavelengths, and it converts it into electrical signals. so then these signals are then delivered directly to the retina's ganglion cells, using liquid metal electrodes, which is super cool. and every time i hear liquid metal, i always think of is it the t 1,000? the, well, the the the metal one in turn here too?

Speaker 0:  anyways yes.

Speaker 1:  so this is significant because in many forms of blindness, so, like, think of retinal degeneration, the photoreceptors are damaged. but the ganglion cells often remain functional, meaning the brain's visual pathway is still intact. so they're i love the way that they're approaching this. and so the new system, is fundamentally different because it bypasses the damaged photoreceptors entirely and introduces a new sensory input, which is infrared. so it doesn't interfere with any remaining natural vision. so it's not just restoring, it's augmenting like we said, which i think this is cool. this is getting us one step closer to super human. when are they going to, at one point, maybe they'll create, an artificial retina that can zoom 2,000 times or something. right? i don't know. what do you think about this? do you think this is cool, or do you think this is useful? or, like, what are your thoughts on this?

Speaker 0:  i think it's interesting. i won't know if it's useful till, you know, it successfully passes the human trials because it's currently in post animal testing. so, you know, we'll see how the human trials go. did, they're supposed to be into them. have you seen the results of the human trials yet? no. i think it's cool that we're getting to the point of this kind of thing where from a medical point of view, we're able to bypass, burn out photocells in the eyes or the and bypass them with stuff like this so that we can now, you know, make life change for these people. like, it's it affects approximately one in four thousand people worldwide. the global retinal prosthesis market was valued at $271,310,000 in 2024. the us market is expected to be 644,390,000 in 2032, which is a growth of, 11.4%. so it looks like this is a growing market, and it'll probably grow faster as more advanced tools become available. yeah. but go ahead.

Speaker 1:  one question that remains kind of an open question is, what does infrared look like to the brain? right? like yes. the brain could interpret it as brightness. it could map it to colors, or it could develop entirely new perceptual experiences. like, that's the thing. it scares me, but if if the brain can handle it properly, it's it it'll be cool.

Speaker 0:  yes. the liquid metal used isn't just a gimmick. it addresses the impedance mismatch between hard electronics and soft biological tissue, which is the number one reason most neural implants fail after two years. yeah. the global market for the smart retinas is exploding. it's projected at 79,000,000,000 by 2032. i think my other number was bigger. ages, while we call this restoring site, the brain might initially interpret

Speaker 1:  sorry. i didn't silence

Speaker 0:  my phone there. the brain might initially interpret infrared signals as, phosph fiends, flashes of light, or even colors we don't have names for requiring the user to relearn how to see. so we don't know the refresh rate or resolution, seeing a blob if he is a life changing for a blind patient, but is it a long way from reading a book or recognizing a face yeah. or, you know, being able to watch tv. so, i'm curious as go ahead.

Speaker 1:  humans, they've always been blind to like, well, yeah, we've been blind to most of the electromagnetic spectrum, and so this changes that. and we're talking about adding a completely new sensory channel to the human experience. and so the real question is, isn't whether that i can detect infrared? it's how the brain is going to interpret it because the brain may literally invent a new kind of perception. right? and that's what's really cool about this.

Speaker 0:  yeah. we are officially bridging the gap between medical recovery and human augmentation. you know? and, if you had a choice, would you take a medical implant that gave you twenty twenty vision or one that gave you twenty forty vision but included built in night vision? let us know what you think in the chat.