Eyes, however, are pretty special, and the way they communicate with the brain means designing an artificial one, and implanting isn’t exactly as simple as “plug-and-play.” Getting a device to interface with the human brain is a huge hurdle.

Still, there’s a lot of work left to be done, and the scientists are quick to note that the device in its current state is just the start of what might be possible in a few years’ time.

That might sound like a huge mark against it, but the researchers say that as the technology evolves, the density of the sensors and resolution of the resulting image could actually beat a real human eye