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day that sibling may be bigger, stronger, medical and technological innovations
and smarter? The same caution may may provide vision which is superior
apply to folks who are disabled. to your original vision. I think the
following revision may read better: If
Technology is bringing us to the cusp of you’re losing your vision, I know you
a major shift in how people with can choose to thrive and, in time,
disabilities perform. Thinking back to medical and technological innovations
the bionic man TV show, it’s not dif- may provide vision which is superior to
ficult to envision a world in which the your original vision.
apps and prostheses used by people with
disabilities will give them superpowers.
At that point, the enabling technology Ed Henkler is the Founder of The Blind
may become a designer choice. Arthur Guide, which seeks to help people thrive
Lowery is a professor of electrical and with vision loss. A Naval Academy
computer systems engineering at Aus- graduate, he has diverse industry
tralia’s Monash University. Lowery and experience from leadership roles in large
his team are working on a technology cap biopharmaceuticals, medical device,
called Gennaris. This system will bypass start-up, and non-profit settings. These
the optic nerve and stimulate the brain’s follow a career which began with the Navy
visual cortex directly, sending a grid of nuclear power program, as well as sharing
electrical impulses that the brain can in- his knowledge as a ROTC instructor at NC
State University. That diversity of
terpret as recognizable patterns of light experience, from integrating a $1B
and dark. It’s obviously only early stages acquisition into
but if technology can deliver the visible a $60B company
light spectrum, why not also provide through revitalizing
infrared or ultraviolet? Superpowers a struggling
anyone? non-profit and
assisting many
What’s the bottom line? If you’re losing startups, informs
your vision, I know you can choose to his thinking.
thrive and, if you wait long enough,
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