interior design of the “Amin’s Residence” by studio Dipen Gada & Associates
What It’s Like to See Again with an Artificial Retina
Elias Konstantopoulos gets spotty glimpses of the world each day for about four hours, or for however long he leaves his Argus II retina prosthesis turned on. The 74-year-old Maryland resident lost his sight from a progressive retinal disease over 30 years ago, but is able to perceive some things when he turns on the bionic vision system.
“I can see if you are in front of me, and if you try to go away,” he says. “Or, if I look at a big tree with the system on I can maybe see some darkness and if it’s bright outside and I move my head to the left or right I can see different shadows that tell me there is something there. There’s no way to tell what it is,” says Konstantopoulos.
A spectacle-mounted camera captures image data for Konstantopoulos; that data is then processed by a mini-computer carried on a strap and sent to a 60-pixel neuron-stimulating chip that was implanted in one of his retinas in 2009.
Nearly 70 people around the world have undergone the three-hour surgery for the retinal implant, which was developed by California’s Second Sight and approved for use in Europe in 2011 and in the U.S. earlier this year (see “Bionic Eye Implant Approved for U.S. Patients”). It is the first vision-restoring implant sold to patients.
Currently, the system is only approved for patients with retinitis pigmentosa, a degenerative eye condition that strikes around one in 5,000 people worldwide, but it’s possible the Argus II and other artificial retinas in development could work for those with age-related macular degeneration, which affects one in 2,000 people in developed countries. In these conditions, the photoreceptor cells of the eye (commonly called rods and cones) are lost, but the rest of the neuronal pathway that communicates visual information to the brain is often still viable. Artificial retinas depend on this remaining circuitry, so cannot work for all forms of blindness.
(via emergentfutures)
Moonstone Street residence, Manhattan Beach. Schneider Custom Homes.
Check Out Kengo Kuma’s ‘Naturescape for Urban Stories’!
For Milan Design Week 2013, Kengo Kuma brought his trademark style of transparency and lightness to the city center. In “Naturescape for Urban Stories,” Kuma envisions a natural space set within the bustling metropolis of Milan. Suspended between sculpture and architecture, Kuma’s installation reinterprets the traditional Japanese garden as a series of sinuous, organic spaces comprised of pietra serena stone, bamboo, water and gravel. Click through to see more!
Kolam (via Yesterday Was Dramatic, Today is OK)
Kolam is a rangoli traditionally composed of geometric lines and shapes, drawn around a grid pattern of dots. It is drawn by south Indian women with rice or chalk powder in front of their homes.
(via designed-for-life)
Exceptional butler’s pantry (with actual pantry) in North Carolina. Designer Kathryn Long.
Series 2: Homes made out of shipping containers (via designmilk)
Marcos Acayaba - Helio Olga house, São Paulo 1990. Photos (C) Nelson Kon, Sebastián Crespo.
