As federal research funding faces steep cuts, UC scientists are pushing brain-computer interfaces forward: restoring speech after ALS, easing Parkinson’s symptoms, and improving bionic vision with AI (that’s us 👋 at @ucsantabarbara.bsky.social). 🧠 www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/thrilli...

Excited to be heading to São Paulo for the World Blindness Summit 2025! 🌎✨ Looking forward to learning from/connecting with blindness organizations from around the globe. 👉 wbu.ngo/events/world... #WorldBlindnessSummit #Inclusion #Accessibility #Blindness #DisabilityRights

Excited to share that I’ve been promoted to Associate Professor with tenure at UCSB! Grateful to my mentors, students, and funders who shaped this journey and to @ucsantabarbara.bsky.social for giving the Bionic Vision Lab a home! Full post: www.linkedin.com/posts/michae...

👁️⚡ I spoke with Dr. Jiayi Zhang about her Science paper on tellurium nanowire retinal implants—restoring vision and extending it into the infrared, no external power required. New materials, new spectrum, new possibilities. 🔗 www.bionic-vision.org/research-spo... #BionicVision #NeuroTech

At #EMBC2025? Come check out two talks from my lab in tomorrow’s Sensory Neuroprostheses session! 🗓️ Thurs July 17 · 8-10AM · Room B3 M3-4 🧠 Efficient threshold estimation 🧑🔬 Deep human-in-the-loop optimization 🔗 embc.embs.org/2025/program/ #BionicVision #NeuroTech #IEEE #EMBS

👁️⚡ Headed to #EMBC2025? Catch two of our lab’s talks on optimizing retinal implants! 📍 Sensory Neuroprostheses 🗓️ Thurs July 17 · 8-10AM · Room B3 M3-4 🧠 Efficient threshold estimation 🧑🔬 Deep human-in-the-loop optimization 🔗 embc.embs.org/2025/program/ #BionicVision #NeuroTech #IEEE #EMBS #Retina

🔬👁️ The next-gen #PRIMA chip in action: subretinal surgery training in 🇩🇪 with the Science Corps team, Prof. Yannick Le Mer, and Prof. Dr. Lars-Olof Hattenbach. 3D digital visualization + iOCT = a powerful combo for precision subretinal implant work. #BionicVision #NeuroTech 📸 via Dr. Mahi Muqit

Thrilled to see this one hit the presses! 🎉 One of the final gems from Dr. Justin Kasowski’s dissertatio, showing how checkerboard rastering boosts perceptual clarity in simulated prosthetic vision. 👁️⚡️ #BionicVision #NeuroTech

👁️🧠 It’s not too late to submit your abstract to Optica’s Fall Vision Meeting (FVM) 2025! 📍 Minneapolis/St Paul, Oct 2–5 🧑‍🏫 Featuring talks by Susana Marcos, Austin Roorda, and Gordon Legge 🍷 Kickoff at the CMRR! 🗓️ Abstracts due: Aug 8 🔗 www.osafallvisionmeeting.org #VisionScience #VisionResearch

👁️🧠 Big step forward for #BionicVision: Science has submitted a CE mark application for the PRIMA retinal implant. If approved, it would be the first #NeuroTech to treat geographic atrophy, a late-stage form of age-related macular degeneration #AMD. 🔗 science.xyz/news/prima-c...

🎙️Our very own Lily Turkstra was featured on WYPL-FM’s Eye on Vision podcast to discuss how blind individuals use assistive tech at home, from tactile labels to digital tools. 📻 Listen: eyeonvision.blogspot.com/2025/05/assi... 📰 Read: bionicvisionlab.org/publications... #BlindTech #Accessibility

👁️🧠🧪 Next on the Horizon: Frederik Ceyssens from ReVision Implant on scaling bionic vision to the cortex with Occular, a high-res, deep-brain prosthesis. Why performance might beat invasiveness - and what comes next: www.bionic-vision.org/research-spo... #BionicVision #NeuroTech #BCI

Real and imagined images are processed using the same systems in the brain, yet most people can distinguish between the two. Now neuroscientists have identified two brain regions that keep imagined images separate from reality. https://go.nature.com/3SOqIfV

🔥 We’re thrilled to announce that adaptive optics trailblazer Austin Roorda (@roordalab.bsky.social) is the 2025 Boynton Award recipient! 🎉 His AOSLO let us image, stimulate, and track single photoreceptors 🧠👁️ He’ll give the Boynton Lecture at #OpticaFVM, Oct 2–5 @ Univ. Minnesota. Save the date!

Our @bionicvisionlab.org is at #VSS2025 with 2 talks and a poster! First up is PhD Candidate Byron A. Johnson: Fri, 4:30pm, Talk Room 1: Differential Effects of Peripheral and Central Vision Loss on Scene Perception and Eye Movement Patterns www.visionsciences.org/presentation...

🌌🛰️🔭Wanna know which features are universal vs unique in your models and how to find them? Excited to share our preprint: "Universal Sparse Autoencoders: Interpretable Cross-Model Concept Alignment"! arxiv.org/abs/2502.03714 (1/9)

Atlanta friends, I want to extend a special invitation to have you join us for a really unique event we're hosting on May 7 called "Wired Lives: Personal Stories of Brain Implants": neuro.gatech.edu/wired-lives-...

Not usually one to post personal pics, but let’s take a break from doomscrolling, yeah? Some joyful moments from the Plous Award Ceremony: Honored to give the lecture, receive the framed award & celebrate with the people who made it all possible! @bionicvisionlab.org @ucsantabarbara.bsky.social

Happening on Monday!

Mark your calendars! 👁️🧠🧪 This year's @optica.org Fall Vision Meeting is heading to the University of Minnesota Twin Cities, MN on Oct 3-5, 2025! #VisionScience #VisionResearch #cogsci #neuroskyence #psychscisky #ophthalmology #AcademicSky

Today is Retraction Day, when we observe the anniversary of the retraction (Feb. 2, 2010) of the fraudulent paper that purported to show a link between vaccines and autism. 🧪#medsky

Where #VisionScience reaches new heights, From low vision care to brain scan insights. A home for breakthroughs and autumn’s glow, Can you guess where this year’s conference will go? 👁️🧠🧪

A monumental modeling effort by Tianruo Guo & Team! 🧠🧪 The paper stops short of simulating retinal remodeling but impressively replicates key markers of the degenerated retina, like hyperactivity and oscillations. A valuable framework for optimizing stimulation strategies of retinal implants!

“Seeing the future”: More media coverage about @mbeyeler.bsky.social winning the 2024-25 Harold J. Plous Memorial Award @ucsantabarbara.bsky.social news.ucsb.edu/2024/021709/...

Our PI @mbeyeler.bsky.social has received the 2024-’25 Harold J. Plous Memorial Award by @ucsb.bsky.social, in recognition of his “outstanding contributions in research, teaching, and service.“ New article by @ucsbengineering.bsky.social: engineering.ucsb.edu/news/outstan...

🚨 Big news for #PRIMA's journey to restore vision! The PRIMAvera clinical trial has cleared all Data Safety Monitoring Board standards, paving the way for #PRIMA's CE mark approval in the EU. 🧠🧪 Read more: science.xyz/news/prima-d... #BionicVision #NeuroTech #blindness

OK If we are moving to Bluesky I am rescuing my favourite ever twitter thread (Jan 2019). The renamed: Bluesky-sized history of neuroscience (biased by my interests)

Order matters: neurons in the human brain fire in sequences that encode information www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Grateful to the OHBM communications committee (curiously not yet here?) and particularly to @audreycluo.bsky.social for putting together this interview with yours truly: www.ohbm-com.com/blog/intervi..., in which I had the opportunity to hold forth on my educational motivations and philosophy

It sounded like too much fun not to try it myself

How do visual prosthetics stack up in everyday life? 👁️🧠🧪 Our latest study reveals a significant gap between researcher expectations and the actual usage of bionic eyes by recipients: tvst.arvojournals.org/article.aspx... #BionicVision #NeuroTech #Blindness #Accessibility

Starting your #PhD journey? Crafting a standout Statement of Purpose is key. Here's a guide with tips & common pitfalls to help you succeed (tailored to #CompSky at #UCSB, but much of it should apply to most depts): docs.google.com/document/d/1... #AcademicSky #AcademicChatter #FirstGen #CSforALL

Didn't see one for Neuroscience yet; allow me to oblige

Applying to the PhD program in #CompSky at #UCSB? It's not too late to get expert feedback on your application materials! 🧪 New deadline: Nov 22 Anywhere on Earth cs.ucsb.edu/education/gr... #Diversity #FirstGen #STEM #WomenInSTEM #CSforALL #AcademicSky

New well-informed Bloomberg article about #BionicVision 👁️🧠 with a quote from yours truly: www.bloomberg.com/news/article... #NeuroTech #PRIMA #Neuralink

As #BionicVision tech progresses, the research community seems optimistic but mindful of questions about #neuroethics. How do we ensure accessibility, consent, and long-term safety when there is still a gap between researcher expectations and implantee needs? www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1...

Our PhD student Jacob Granley taking the stage at The Brain & The Chip conference! 🧠🧪

📢 Faculty Position at #UCSB Our PBS department is hiring a tenured Full Professor in #CogNeuro who will also direct the UCSB Brain Imaging Center (BIC), starting July 2025 or later. Please help spread the word! #BrainImaging #AcademicJobs Apply by Dec 2: recruit.ap.ucsb.edu/JPF02858

“When you say someone is disabled, there’s an assumption they’re not functional–which couldn’t be more wrong!” Our PhD student Lucas Nadolskis shares insights on #Accessibility, #Inclusion vs. #Integration, and reimagining cities for all: www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDSn...

🚀Applying to the @ucsbcs PhD program?🎓 There's still time to have your statements & CV reviewed to help you craft a stronger application! Submit by Nov 15 via: https://cs.ucsb.edu/education/graduate/phd-application-support-program #FirstGen #DiversityInSTEM #UCSB

Honored to receive #UCSB’s 2024-25 Harold J. Plous Award! 🎉🏆 This recognition fuels our work at the intersection of neuroscience & visual prosthetics. Grateful for the support & excited about what's...

Excited to be featured in the @unity Sentis sizzle reel! https://youtu.be/okSYmGrPBDE?feature=shared We simulate #BionicEye vision using neuro-inspired #AI models embedded in #VR, which are computationally heavy. But with Sentis we can run them in real-time to update based on head...

🚀Applying to the @ucsbcs PhD program?🎓 Our Application Support Program offers feedback on your research/personal statement & CV—designed especially for first-gen and underserved applicants 🗓️Submit by Nov 15,...

Seeking vision scientists for 10-15 minute survey! My PhD student and I would be super grateful to any vision researchers willing to help us group these tasks according to what visual processes you think they most tap into: 🙏 forms.gle/ajhBw1Nak7Bi...

Are you looking for an #AcademicJob in low/ultra-low or bionic vision? Perhaps a #PhD or #postdoc position with prominent leaders in the field, such as Pieter Roelfsema, Jim Weiland, Gislin Dagnelie, Arathy Kartha, or Diego Ghezzi? Look no further: bionic-vision.org/jobs

Are you looking for an #AcademicJob in low/ultra-low or bionic vision? Perhaps a #PhD or #postdoc position with prominent leaders in the field, such as @Pieters_Tweet, @arathykartha, @diegoghezzi, Jim Weiland or Gislin Dagnelie? Look no further! https://bionic-vision.org/jobs

Really cool job opportunity at Johns Hopkins designing and developing VR / AR-based software solutions for head-mounted displays using Unity Game Engine for the visually impaired. I know the guy involved. Hit me up if you are interested: jobs.jhu.edu/job/Baltimor...

Spotted in The Guardian: www.theguardian.com/science/2024... Congratulations @emilyjacobs.bsky.social and Team!!

Just found out we made it into @DailyMailUK! Except they "borrowed" a slide of mine and @NLM_NIH footage w/ @byebyedarkness, crediting it to SecondSight & calling it Nintendo-like graphics as @elonmusk said🤣@neuralink must deal with this all the...