Second Sight Medical Products has developed Argus Two, a sophisticated eye-implant device with an array of 60 electrodes, providing a much sharper image to its users than its earlier device, Argus One, with 16 electrodes, creating a 4 by 4 pattern of light and dark spots.

Argus Two consists of a tiny camera mounted on a pair of dark glasses and a hip-mounted microprocessor, produced for the U.S. Energy Department’s Artificial Retina Project.

Researchers in the Energy Department’s National Laboratories are creating a third-generation artificial retina. Much smaller than its predecessors, the device will contain 200 or more electrodes on a thin, flexible film that curves to fit the shape of the retina. Human tests are scheduled to begin in 2011.