Artificial Vision 2009 – The 2nd Bonn Dialogue
Dear Colleagues and Friends!
It is my pleasure to welcome you to the 2nd International Symposium on Artificial Vision – the Bonn Dialogue.
The symposium is organized by the German Retinal Implant Foundation, a foundation supporting scientific exchange and research in the growing area of retinal prosthesis, by Pro Retina, the German RP patient organization, and supported by the German Research Council (DFG). The goal of the symposium is to bring together researchers and to provide a floor for lively discussions and the exchange of facts, ideas, and perspectives. Heinz Wässle from the Max Planck Institute for Brain Research in Frankfurt/Main accepted our invitation to give us a keynote lecture on an alternative and more biological path to recover visual function in blindness causing diseases.
When Mark Humayun and Eugene de Juan presented a video where a blind subject reported phosphenes upon electrical stimulation of the retinal surface, not many opinion leaders thought that some years later retinal implants are successfully evaluated within prospective clinical trials. At that time a door was opened, many solutions were provided, many new questions came up, more groups joined the community and today visual prosthesis research and development is a still growing field. Interdisciplinarity, cooperation between companies, academia based labs, and clinics, the participation of the patient groups and the enthusiasm of individuals are only a few spotlights characterizing this fascinating area. The symposium covers major basic science aspects of artificial vision, it will provide an overview on projects which are in a preclinical state, and it will summarize the results from clinical trials. I am sure that you will enjoy great presentations and lectures as well as lively discussions.
Welcome to the Bonn Dialogue.
Peter Walter, M.D.
Professor of Ophthalmology
on behalf of the Programme Committee