Jerry lost his sight in an accident in 1974 when he was 36. Several years later he became part of an implant experiment, first at New York's Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center and now at Dobelle Institute Inc. In the experiment, a printed-circuit board, about the size of a jumbo postage stamp, is implanted in Jerry's brain. The card has a grid of electrodes that stimulate the visual cortex, creating coarse black-and-white images. Individual electrodes are turned on and off on the basis of signals from a tiny TV camera mounted in the right lens of Jerry's sunglasses. The video images must be digitized and processed by a notebook computer on Jerry's belt or in a backpack. With his updated version, Jerry can now read two inch high letters from 5 feet away. He is also learning to read video signals from the computer so that he can access the Internet. (Remember that Jerry is totally blind.) It is hoped that with ongoing improvement, through experimentation and refinement at the Dobelle Institute, this device "will be able to provide significant function to blind people." (Business Week, 31 Jan 00)