Human Body: Pushing the Limits Page #4

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making certain that what it sees

matches the flashes

in Cheri's brain.

ROBERTSON:

Yeah. Right in the same spot.

So it works for us.

NARRATOR:
Finally,

with the camera mounted,

Cheri's mother helps connect the

gear to try the new settings.

WOMAN:
Ready?

l think my computer

gained weight.

[ Laughs ]

NARRATOR:
Has technology helped

bring Cheri's sight back?

Oh!

Wow!

Oh, wow.

[ Laughs ]

Oh, wow.

When l finally saw my first

light' it took my breath away.

l could not believe it.

We knew it worked,

and that was very,

very thrilling for me.

Oh, something's lighting me up.

NARRATOR:

We can't know what Cheri sees.

But we do know

what she describes.

Whoa. l'm seeing

two big dots of light.

And they are white with

a little bit of red in them.

Wow. Those were two really big

flashes, and they moved.

Wow. l saw a big flash

of light there.

NARRATOR:

This early in the project'

doctors have activated

only some of Cheri's electrodes.

Eventually, they hope to connect

many more,

vastly improving the scope

of her vision.

Oh, wow.

Because l can only use 1 0

of my electrodes,

whenever an object goes

in front of my camera'

l will see two flashes of light.

And they're about the size

of a big peanut M&M --

just one on top of the other.

Saw a couple more.

l'm not sure if it's the waves.

And that way, l know

that there is an object there.

Now, l'm not sure what it is.

They're sailboats?

ls that it still here?

That is cool.

When l am able to use

all of my electrodes, however'

l will be able to see

the outlines of things

l'm looking at.

So l'll know if l'm looking

at a tree or a person or a car.

So l'll actually know

what l'm looking at.

NARRATOR:
No one pretends

that Cheri's vision is back.

But the fact she can sense

any of the visual world

makes her

an extraordinary pioneer.

l magine if one day we could feed

complete vision signals

directly to the brain.

What could we see?

We might see a world

that we've been blind to,

as if we were seeing

through night-vision lenses,

infrared cameras,

even X-ray vision.

l magine a sum mer weekend

on a California beach

dense with bodies.

But for one onlooker'

this seemingly calm scene

may be a series of accidents

waiting to happen.

How does a lifeguard know

when a raised arm means,

" l need help "'

not' "Hey, this is fun"?

The guard's skill at spotting

that one desperate person

among thousands is phenomenal,

truly testing his sight

and understanding.

We see the way we do so we can

spot danger to ourselves.

l call!

NARRATOR:
But nothing

is threatening the lifeguard.

l n fact' the eye,

observing a harmless pattern

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