Bodo Rueckauer

Abstract Direct electrical stimulation of the brain via cortical visual neuroprostheses is a promising approach to restore basic sight for the visually impaired by inducing a percept of localized light called 'phosphenes'. Apart from the challenge of condensing complex sensory information into meaningful stimulation patterns at low temporal and spatial resolution, providing safe stimulation levels to the brain is crucial.

Editor's evaluation This important study presents a simulator for prosthetic vision (with open source code) whose design is informed by previous psychophysical and neuroanatomical work. The simulation is convincing and demonstrates significant improvements over past visual prosthesis simulations. This work will be of interest to those investigating the impact of cortical stimulation on perception, particularly those developing visual prostheses.