The Bionic Vision Australia group has found progress with prototype retinal implants that they installed in three partially-blind patients.
Since being diagnosed with Retinitis Pigmentosa 21 years ago, patient Dianne Ashworth has only been able to see vague areas of light and dark, according to ABC News.
"It started out with swirls, and the swirls moved in and that's what I'm left with now, is these massive swirls going around," Ashworth said.
This week, Ms. Ashworth was able to walk and navigate her way without help from her guide dog for the first time since losing her sight, Borrowa News reported.
"It's been amazing," she said. "The more I've been doing it, the more natural it feels."
The 20 electrodes in her 24-electrode bionic eye have helped her develop a sense of distance. The electrical signals she saw intensified as she got closer to her target.
On Wednesday, Ms. Ashworth had her first "un-plugged" trial, in which she had to navigate a maze filled with obstacles. She had to wear a camera and back-pack computer to help her see, ABC News reported.
Nick Barnes, an associate professor and computer vision researcher from the Australian ICT research group National Information & Communications Technology Authority (NICTA), said the patients that go through the trials are put in situations that they have a good chance of facing in the real world.
"This is the first time we've gone away from desktop tasks and into the environment," Barnes said.
The trial was the first time that Ms. Ashworth, along with the other two patients, Murray Rowland and Maurice Skehan, could test the device while moving. The prototypes have been in development since 2010, Borrowa News reported.
The patients navigate to a target on the far end of the room, and do so 100 times, with both the starting and target point changing every time. The patients are measured on the time it takes for them to reach their target, how early they can set themselves towards the target and their accuracy in finding it.
Dr. Chris McCarthy from NICTA said the researchers are trying to create a comprehensible image of the world for people with vision issues, ABC News reported.
The research team is looking to use the results from this week's trials to make smaller, more user-friendly versions of the bionic eye system.
