---
title: "Future Bionic Eyes Could One Day Give Wearers Infrared Vision"
description: "Researchers have created a new bionic eye system that sends electrical signals to the wearer's brain via an implant to allow them to see again."
date: "2019-08-09"
modified: "2019-08-09"
authors:
  - name: "Victor Tangermann"
    job_title: "Senior Editor"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/bionic-eyes-infrared-thermal-vision"
categories:
  - "Future Society"
tags:
  - "bionic"
  - "bionic eyes"
  - "infrared"
  - "the digest"
---

# Future Bionic Eyes Could One Day Give Wearers Infrared Vision

![Researchers have created a new bionic eye system that sends electrical signals to the wearer's brain via an implant to allow them to see again.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/bionic-eyes-infrared-thermal-vision.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: Shutterstock/Victor Tangermann\</em\>*

## Bionic Eyes

Researchers from visual prosthetics company Second Second Sight Medical Products have created a new bionic eye system that sends electrical signals to the wearer's brain via an implant, allowing them to "see" again.

Future iterations could one day not only allow blind people to perceive depth, but they could even give wearers a way to see in the infrared spectrum, [according to *Engadget*](<https://www.engadget.com/2019/08/09/Second-sight-orion-bionic-eyes-predator-vision/>).

## Future Vision

The Orion Visual Cortical Prosthesis System, built by Second Sight, consists of a small camera attached to a pair of glasses. The camera converts what it captures into electrical signals, which are then sent to the wearer's brain to create a perceived image.

The implant requires an overnight hospital stay plus recovery time. But once it's in place, it can stimulate the wearer's visual cortex to create a spatial map, effectively allowing the wearer to "see" a low-res image.

## Heat Vision

The researchers are already thinking ahead, though, to "Predator"-style thermal imaging.

"It would be good for them to have that as kind of a mode perhaps, in which they could switch to thermal imaging," Second Sight CEO Will McGuire told *Engadget*.

"And they can identify where people are in the room, day or night, more easily," he added. "They could maybe identify the hot part of a stove or cup of coffee, things like that."

**READ MORE:** [Tomorrow's bionic eyes will have 'Predator' vision](<https://www.engadget.com/2019/08/09/Second-sight-orion-bionic-eyes-predator-vision/>) \[*Engadget*\]

**More on bionic vision:** *[This Experimental Bionic Eye Could Help The Blind See](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/bionic-eye-prototype>)*

## Author
I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/vtanger.bsky.social>)